A Delegation from the Qingdao Bureau of Commerce, headed by Vice Mayor Mr Wang Luming, accompanied by representatives from large businesses of the city, visited FORTH.

The purpose of the visit was to learn about the activities of FORTH and to explore cooperation potential. TheChairmanoftheBoardofDirectors, Prof. Nektarios Tavernarakis, members of the Board of Directors Prof. Spiros Anastasiadis and Prof. Iannis Talianidis, as well as Deputy Directors Prof. Manolis Katevenis and Prof. George Makrakis welcomed the Delegation and presented the activities of FORTH and its Institutes. The presentation was followed by a guided tour to laboratories of the Institutes of Electronic Structure and Laser, Computer Science and Molecular Biology and Biotechnology.

The Municipality of Heraklion was represented by Vice Mayor for Tourism Mr Gian Andrea Garancini who stated that the City Authorities and the citizens of Heraklion are proud of FORTH. He also mentioned that FORTH was present to the 6^th Shanghai International Technology Fair, invited by the Municipality Heraklion as an Honorary Guest City. Further, he referred to the close collaboration with the Hellenic-Chinese Chamber and to the forthcoming twinning of Heraklion with the Chinese city of Ningbo.

During his address, the Deputy Mayor Mr Wang Luming expressed his admiration for the high level of research conducted at FORTH. He mentioned that Qingdao is a small seaside city with a population equivalent to the population of Greece. The city has substantial scientific and business activity: 26 Academic and Research Foundations as well as high technology large corporations and industries are located in the city, and there are many fields for collaboration regarding know-how transfer from FORTH.