Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) held an international expert consulting meeting for development on January 6, as one of the celebrations for its 60^th founding anniversary. The consultation brought together 9 prestigious scholars to put forward advice and suggestions.

Prof. Chen Jin, director of XTBG, made a report with the title of “XTBG - Past 10 Years' Growth and Future Perspective”, presenting achievements in scientific research, species preservation, public education, facilities, and team building over the past 10 years.

Afterwards, responsible people of two key laboratories, conservation center, department of gardening, and environmental education center reported their development over the past decade.

After participating in the 4^th Xishuangbanna International Symposium and listening to the reports, the international expert committee discussed XTBG’s administration, infrastructure construction, team building, scientific facilities and research arrangement. The experts put forward reasonable suggestions on XTBG’s future development.

The expert committee also discussed the ten-point criteria for the world-leading botanical garden. They then gave an evaluation on XTBG for being a leading botanical garden

The nine experts were Prof. Peter Wyse Jackson of Missouri Botanical Garden, Prof. Paul Smith of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), Prof. Pete Hollingsworth of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Dr. Valerie Pence of Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Dr. Samuel Brockington from University of Cambridge, Prof. Chuck Cannon of The Morton Arboretum, Prof. Ren Hai of South China Botanic Garden, and Prof. Sun Weibang of Kunming Botanical Garden.

XTBG researchers report work progress

Nine international experts

The international consultation