Gathering Global Wisdom to Build an International Matrix of Top Scholars: The 2025 Donghu Forum is About to Open

By the banks of the Yangtze River, a tide of innovation surges. The 2025 Donghu Forum will be held from October 14th to 15th. Having developed over the past three years, the Forum has become a premier platform for unveiling cutting-edge achievements, a new hallmark for promoting scientific popularization, and a global meeting point linking worldwide wisdom, continuously providing crucial support for Hubei in building a nationally influential sci-tech innovation center. During the Forum, the China Association for International Exchange of Personnel (CAIEP), in collaboration with domestic and international authoritative institutions, will host two major events: the “Frontier Sci-Tech Forum” and the “Overseas Talents China Trip · Agricultural Sci-Tech Innovation” Hubei Special Session. Concurrently, an academic exchange-focused event, the “Sustainable Development and Innovation” thematic session, will also be held. Together, these three events will establish a high-end exchange platform for global talent, focusing on innovation needs and exploring development opportunities.

Seizing Future Trends, Building an Innovation ‘Circle of Wisdom’

The three events will gather heavyweight guests including academicians and experts, with strong support from institutions such as the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) and the China-Europe Green Technology Industry Alliance. By inspiring innovative thinking, disseminating innovative concepts, and motivating an innovative spirit, they will help the Donghu Forum become a vital platform for converging global innovative forces, catalyzing major cooperation, and shaping a shared future.

Joining Hands to Inquire into Sustainable Development

From the 9th to the 11th, the “Sustainable Development and Innovation” thematic session will focus on topics such as green synthesis methods, the use of clean energy, the development of biodegradable materials, and recycling technologies. It will invite strategic scientists and young sci-tech talents from China and abroad to deliver speeches and engage in discussions, exchanging ideas and experiences on sustainable development, presenting a multifaceted cultural green feast featuring cutting-edge technology displays, cross-sector cooperation dialogues, and deep public engagement.

Experts Gather to Foster New Quality Productive Forces in Agriculture

Hubei has achieved remarkable results in agricultural sci-tech innovation. Landmark achievements including the world’s first transgenic insect-resistant rice, the world’s first rice whole-genome breeding chip, the world’s first test-tube lotus root, high-quality double-low rapeseed varieties, high-quality citrus, premium fish, and lean-meat pigs demonstrate its innovative strength. The latest statistics show that the contribution rate of agricultural sci-tech progress in Hubei has exceeded 63%, an increase of nearly 8 percentage points compared to a decade ago.

From the 11th to the 12th, the “Overseas Talents China Trip · Agricultural Sci-Tech Innovation” Hubei Special Session will be held at the International Academic Exchange Center of Huazhong Agricultural University. Focusing on the theme “Technology Empowers Agricultural Modernization, Talent Leads New Quality Productive Forces,” the forum will feature keynote sharing, panel discussions, and talent negotiation activities, jointly exploring new paths and the future of agricultural modernization.

Frontier Insights: Technology Reshaping the Future

From October 13th to 16th, the “Frontier Sci-Tech Forum” will be held at the Wuhan Optics Valley Sci-Tech Exhibition Center. Through an opening ceremony, roundtable exchanges, thematic meetings, and public science lectures, the forum will facilitate high-level dialogue and strategic discussions on topics such as “International Environment Building and Sci-Tech Progress” and “How Young Sci-Tech Talents Can Navigate Their Research Paths.” Participating experts will engage in in-depth exchanges and discussions in fields including energy technology and materials engineering+, AI+, biomedicine and intelligent health, and materials engineering+. Heavyweight guests from top-tier national platforms such as Huairou Laboratory, Changping Laboratory, Pujiang Laboratory, Lingang Laboratory, Suzhou Laboratory, Pengcheng Laboratory, and Hanjiang Laboratory will gather to jointly plan the future of innovation.

The three parallel forums adopt a model of “dialogue and discussion + field visits + industry-university-research对接 (IUR对接)” and rely on a mechanism of “national-level platforms + local actors + international alliances.” This approach not only facilitates immediate resource对接 in areas like carbon emission reduction and agricultural innovation but also, using a transcontinental research network as a bond, deepens long-term interactions among talents. It transforms international cooperation from one-off exchanges into sustained connections, solidifying the foundation of talent collaboration for global multi-sector development.

Gathering Global Wisdom to Build an International Matrix of Top Scholars

The “Sustainable Development and Innovation” thematic session, with its core positioning of “solving green challenges with a global vision,” converges authoritative forces from top international research teams from countries including Denmark, Germany, Finland, and Japan, forming a high-caliber international academic lineup and establishing a “transcontinental, multinational” wisdom collaboration network. The “Overseas Talents China Trip · Agricultural Sci-Tech Innovation” Hubei Special Session invites overseas experts from countries including the United States and Japan for deep participation, forming a core lineup characterized by “collaborative efforts between Chinese and foreign experts.” The “Frontier Sci-Tech Forum” brings together top experts from Australia, Belgium, Poland, the United States, Canada, Germany, South Korea, Spain, Hungary, India, and other countries, covering three frontier fields: energy & materials, artificial intelligence, and biomedicine, forming an international scientific research dialogue network that is “transcontinental, interdisciplinary, and trans-sectoral.”

Creating Collaboration Models, Solidifying the Long-Term Foundation for International Cooperation

The “Sustainable Development and Innovation” thematic session designs its agenda and sessions around green chemistry and environmental sustainability. Through academic presentations and roundtable discussions, it identifies entry points for cooperation, promotes “two-way dialogue,” and facilitates a shift from “one-way knowledge transfer” to “two-way exchange” between Chinese and foreign parties. The “Overseas Talents China Trip · Agricultural Sci-Tech Innovation” Hubei Special Session operates through three dimensions: targeted event design, immersive resource对接, and closed-loop outcome implementation. It not only promotes academic exchange on the frontiers of agricultural modern technology but also facilitates the introduction of outstanding domestic and overseas talents, university-enterprise joint appointments, and the expansion of channels for talent co-cultivation.
Strengthening Two-Way Empowerment, Optimizing the Talent ‘Ecosystem’
When the rocket of sci-tech innovation soars through the heavens, talent is the engine providing the thrust. When the sparks of science popularization illuminate the land, wisdom is the driving force nourishing the future. “Outstanding advantages in science, education, and talent, coupled with strong sci-tech innovation capabilities” is one of Hubei’s most distinctive labels and one of its most significant comparative advantages in building a strategic fulcrum.
In 2025, Hubei is employing extraordinary measures to attract and cultivate a large number of strategic scientists, leading sci-tech talents, outstanding engineers, and excellent young sci-tech talents. Centered around the provincial Party committee and government’s three core layouts – the “51020” advanced manufacturing industrial clusters, the “61020” whole-chain key project攻关, and the “71020” university discipline innovation system – and using provincial major special projects and key R&D programs as important levers, Hubei is precisely organizing sci-tech talent forces to tackle key core technologies, forming a collaborative innovation pattern of “system guidance – platform support – talent攻坚.” A special support program for cultivating young sci-tech talents has been established, with the first batch supporting 117 young talents in dedicated research. In 2025, young sci-tech talents under 40 years old undertake over 80% of the provincial Natural Science Foundation projects, continuously expanding the reserve force for sci-tech innovation.
The 2025 Donghu Forum highlights the theme of sci-tech talent. It not only builds a high-end platform for global sci-tech elites to collide ideas and translate achievements but also injects strong momentum into the coordinated development of sci-tech innovation and science popularization.
Only by Embracing All Streams Can One Form a River or Sea
The Donghu Forum, this international sci-tech event, not only witnesses the continuous progress of Hubei and China in the field of sci-tech innovation but also heralds a more open and cooperative future, just like the ceaseless flow of the Yangtze River. Facing a new journey and a new starting point, Hubei is continuously increasing its openness, expanding its scale of openness, and elevating its level of openness. It is converging global innovation resources including technology, capital, talent, platforms, and achievements, writing a bold and colorful chapter to accelerate the building of an important strategic fulcrum for the rise of the central region.

Source: Hubei Daily