Recently, BC-CAS (Biodiversity Committee, Chinese Academy of Sciences) and FIN (FishBase Information and Research Group, Incorporated) reached an agreement on data sharing and officially became partners. Under this agreement, BC-CAS will share the species checklist of Chondrichthyes with FIN; FIN will share its data with distribution in Asia region. These datasets will be open access to public on both websites.

FIN (www.fin.ph) is a non-stock, non-profit, non-governmental organization engaged in the development and management of global databases on aquatic organisms, including their distribution and ecology (FishBase, www.fishbase.org and SeaLifeBase, www.sealifebase.org.) It is scientifically guided by a Consortium of 10 international members, with its headquarters located in Los Ba?os, Laguna, Philippines.

BC-CAS (www.cncdiversitas.cn) was established in 1992. Since its foundation, it has promoted domestic biodiversity research and academic exchange and greatly improved the development of biodiversity informatics in China. Asia Biodiversity Conservation and Database Network (ABCDNet, www.abcdn.org) was one of the important platforms initiated and led by BC-CAS, with partners from countries and organizations in Asia. It aims to build a platform for sharing biodiversity information in Asia.

The bilateral agreement is a milestone of the cooperation between the two sides. It would greatly promote the biodiversity research and conservation, especially for Chondrichthyes in Asia region.