As the first in a planned series of visits, Valery Detemmerman, Executive Director of the CLIVAR ICPO, and Nico Caltabiano, ICPO Senior Staff Scientist, visited the South China Sea Institute of Oceanography (SCSIO) in Guangzhou and the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) and the Climate Center of the China Meteorological Administration in Beijing, on 6th February and 10 February 2015 respectively.

The major purpose of these visits is to promote cooperation between scientists at these institutions and CLIVAR.  During each visit the host and visitors presented their latest plans and priorities and discussion of common interests and potential collaborations ensued, including larger Chinese involvement in ocean model development, data assimilation and ocean observations. Ms Detemmerman sayd, “The ICPO wants to take full advantage of its China location to strengthen links to Chinese institutions and build CLIVAR cooperation”.

The ICPO is also promoting the involvement of Chinese early career scientists in order to entrain the next generation of scientists in CLIVAR activities.