The 28th General Assembly of International Council for Science (GA of ICSU) opens in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province on Tuesday.

More than 230 scientists from 63 countries and regions participate in meetings and forums, discussing world's development of science and technology with a context of international scientific cooperation. All the 14 members of Executive Board of the ICSU are present at the meeting.

State Councilor Chen Zhili, on behalf of the Chinese government, extended welcome and congratulations to the meeting at an opening ceremony.

China has formed a complete system of scientific research and technical exploration after a prolonged endeavor, Chen said, The Chinese government has worked out national mid and long term programs for science and technology development.

China will continue to increase international scientific cooperation and participate in global scientific projects, she said. China will also make great effort to acquire core techniques in some crucial fields of studies.

Cheng Donghong, an official with the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), said the council will discuss its own development strategy for international scientific cooperation during the conference.

Meanwhile, Cheng said her association will jointly organize a scientific forum in Shanghai for improving public scientific awareness.

Other events will include public science exhibitions, symposia for technological innovation and discussions for scientific knowledge dissemination.

ICSU, headquartered in Paris, is the largest non-governmental organization in world's scientific community which convenes its general assembly every three years. China hosted the 22th GA of ICSU in Beijing in 1998.

(Xinhua News Agency October 19, 2005)