On April 10, CAS President Lu Yongxiang, who is also vice chairman of the Standing Committee of China's top legislature NPC, received a delegation of the Helmholtz Association of National Research Centers in Germany (HGF) led by Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Jürgen Mlynek, newly elected HGF president, in Beijing.    

Lu briefed the German visitors on the CAS drive to carry out scientific research in light of national strategic needs and at the international scientific frontiers. He expressed hope that CAS and HGF strengthen bilateral cooperation in "an innovative way," suggesting that the two sides implement collaborative research on megascience facilities and in the fields of earth science, the environment and space technology.