The Royal Society of Chemistry has recognised the excellence of the Chinese chemical science community by inviting top scientists into membership and has established key major projects with top Chinese institutions.

The Royal Society of Chemistry has recognised the excellence of the Chinese chemical science community by inviting top scientists into membership and has established key major projects with top Chinese institutions. 

During a recent ground breaking visit by the RSC to dozens of the top Chinese institutions, including the Chinese Chemical Society and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a number of important collaborative projects have been proposed. 

Dr Neville Reed, the RSC's Director of Communications, said: "The RSC's purpose is to further the cause of the chemical sciences worldwide and we believe that chemical science in China has a great future. China is the third largest investor in research in the world and the quality and quantity of programmes for the chemical sciences that we have seen is extremely impressive. We'd like to help promote their success in any way we can. 

"2005 marks the year of UK-China Partners in Science, an initiative that seeks to enhance the two countries existing scientific collaborations and build on each others strengths. The RSC is keen to play its part, not only by working with colleagues in China, but by supporting the Chinese chemical community working and studying in the UK."

Dr Peter Gregory, Director of Publishing for the RSC said: "Over recent years we have seen a surge in submissions of papers to our journals from China, to the extent that they currently account for 20% of total submissions. We hope we can collaborate with our Chinese colleagues to ensure that, through our journals, their most cutting edge papers receive the widest possible readership."