On May 22, International Biodiversity Day, Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), Ministry of Land and Resources, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, State Forest Administration, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), State Oceanic Administration, jointly hosted the Conference on International Biodiversity Day and 60 Anniversary of Nature Reserve Development in China in the Great Hall of the People. Mr. Li Ganjie, Vice Minister of MEP, chaired the conference. Mr. Han Qide, Vice Chairman of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Mr. Chen Jining, Minister of MEP, attended and delivered a speech. About 600 people form related departments of State Council, local government and nature reserves attended the conference.

During the conference, Mr. Li Jinghai, Vice President of CAS, represent CAS and MEP, announced the release of the Catalogue of China 2016 Species Checklist. The checklist contained 86575 species & infraspecific taxa, including 10088 infraspecific taxa. It was the basic information of biodiversity, reflecting the richness of the nation’s species. To support the implementation of global conventions and commitments, such as Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and to promote scientific research, CAS has organized more than 100 taxonomy experts to compile the annual checklist. It was a validated checklist of all species distributed in China and released every year to the public. This made China to be the only country which released catalogue of life every year.

The number of species started from 49000, now reached nearly 87000. Taking this occasion, he expressed grateful to all taxonomy experts who contribute to the checklist, also departments and organizations that effective organized the project, such as Bureau of Science & Technology for Development, Biodiversity Committee, Institute of Botany, Institute of Zoology, Institute of Microbiology, Institute of Oceanology, CAS.

Catalogue of Life China 2016 Annual Checklist integrated and summarized all known species in China. It provided significant basis for biodiversity conservation, making the conservation actions more targeted and scientific. The 2016 edition is available at the website (http://www.sp2000.cn) and CD-ROM free for users around the world.

CCTV13 reported the release of Catalogue of Life China 2016 Annual Checklist