On 23th October, 2014, Prof. Roland Oberhänsli, President of International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) visited the Institute of Geophysical and Geochemical Exploration (IGGE) accompanied by Prof. Dong Shuwen, Vice President of Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (CAGS). Mr. Han Ziye, head of IGGE, related principals, and researchers gave Prof. Roland Oberhänsli a tour of IGGE and held a meeting afterwards.  

During the meeting, Mr. Han Ziye talked about IGGE and the preparation made to establish UNESCO Category 2 Center on Global Scale Geochemistry and Dr. Yao Wensheng of Applied Geochemistry Division illustrated objective, job content, organization, and primary proposal of the Center. IGGE expressed the wish to gain support from IUGS for the Center in terms of international cooperation network of geochemical mapping, training course on geochemical mapping, and international geochemical mapping data center, etc.

Prof. Roland Oberhänsli said he was quite pleased to visit IGGE. He held that since global scale geochemical mapping is an important job, International Union of Geological Sciences as a global geological organization will do the utmost to support global scale geochemical mapping, coordinate efforts of geological survey organizations of member states to participate in international cooperation of global scale geochemical mapping, and encourage related organizations to support drawing a world geochemical map ‘Chemical Earth’. President Roland Oberhänsli also put that he will contact the side of ‘One Geology’ and will facilitate close cooperation between global geological mapping and global geochemical mapping.   

During the discussion, Prof. Dong Shuwen put forward instructions and requirements for UNESCO Category 2 Center on Global Scale Geochemistry .

Prof. Roland Oberhänsli also visited Geophysical and Geochemical Technology Experiment Research Center, Central Laboratory, and Geochemical Standard Substance Research Center of IGGE.