More than 3,000 botanists from 95 countries gathered at the XX International Botanical Congress in Madrid, held between 21-27th of July 2024, with the Chinese delegation ranking third in terms of total number of participants (218). The participants called for putting plants at the center of society’s path toward a sustainable future.

The Congress included plenary lectures, symposia, poster sessions, and a variety of short satellite meetings and training courses. The themes covered six major directions: systematic taxonomy, phylogenetics, biogeography and evolution; ecology, environment and global change, including invasive species and plant-animal interactions; biodiversity and conservation; plant structure, physiology and evolutionary developmental biology (Evo-Devo); genetics, genomics and bioinformatics and plants and society.

Researchers from the Xishuangbanna Botanical Garden (XTBG) presented a series of their latest research findings at the conference. Prof. Xing Yaowu’s team shared four oral presentations and multiple poster displays. Other participants also made oral presentations.

During the conference, XTBG researchers engaged in academic exchanges with scholars from both domestic and international institutions, discussing potential collaboration opportunities. After the conference, they visited the Royal Botanic Garden in Madrid for further research.

The International Botanical Congress is held every six years and organized by the International Association for Plant Taxonomy and Mycology (IABMS). Rooted in the tradition of Systematic Botany, the IBCs have enlarged their scope over more than a century to become an integrated forum for knowledge on the plant and mycological world. 

XTBG researchers at the 20th  International Botanical Congress