During the visit of CAS delegation led by CAS Vice President DING Zhongli, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, the President of Iceland, welcomed them on July 16 at his residence. Discussion at the meeting evolved around the Third Pole Environment (TPE) program, an international environmental research program promoted by the CAS, and some other areas for future collaboration between CAS and the Icelandic scientific community.

President Grimsson introduced the geothermal and glacial resources in Iceland, and welcomed cooperation from Chinese scientists. Prof. YAO Tandong was invited to report on the TPE program, elaborating on its objectives and missions, key science questions, organizations and operations. He particularly thanked the President for inviting and supporting TPE scientists to Reykjavik for the 3rd TPE Workshop to be held this August.

CAS Vice President Ding showed strong support of the TPE program from CAS. He also encouraged scientists from both nations to further explore research fields of common interest. He noted that  scientific collaborations between both nations can be conducted in many geoscience fields, such as glaciology, geology, and geophysics.

On occasion of the upcoming 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Iceland, scientific cooperation between both nations is also believed to be further promoted.