The opening ceremony of Sino-German Joint Lab of Inorganic Membrane for Clean Energy and Clear Environment was held in South China University of Technology (SCUT) on the morning of Nov.26. The Joint Lab Project is applied by Professor Wang Haihui from School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in SCUT and Professor Juergen Caro from Leibniz University of Hannover, and got funding from Sino-German Center for Research Promotion. Prof. ZHU Min, Vice President of SCUT, Prof. CHANG Qing, Director of Sino-German Center for Research Promotion from Chinese side, Prof. ZHAO Miaogen, Deputy Director of Sino-German Center for Research Promotion from Germany side, Mr. Jochen Künzel, Vice Consul-general of German Consulate General in Guangzhou, Miss Franziska Lee, Acting Director of Guangzhou Information Center in Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst(DAAD) and Prof. Juergen Caro, Director of Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Leibniz University of Hannover, attended the opening ceremony. The ceremony was chaired by Prof. WANG Haihui, Vice Dean of School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in SCUT. Also there were leaders of various school departments and many renowned scholars in inorganic membrane field from domestic universities and Institutes of Chinese Academy of Sciences attending the opening ceremony.

　　Vice President ZHU Min made an ebullient welcome speech on behalf of SCUT, expressing his sincere appreciation for the support of National Natural Science Foundation of China and Sino-German Center, and he said that SCUT would give full support to the construction and operation of the joint lab. Prof. CHANG Qing, Chinese Director of Sino-German Center, gave a speech on behalf of the National Natural Science Fund Committee, he offered his congratulations on the establishment of inorganic membrane joint lab and he hoped that the school can use this opportunity, combined with laboratory as the platform, and make greater contribution to clean energy and clean environment. Prof. Zhao Miaogen and Mr. Jochen Künzel also gave their speeches representing the Sino-German Center and the German Consulate, respectively. Finally, the nameplate of the Sino-German Joint Lab was unveiled by Sino German representatives of both parties.

Since 2001, twenty Sino-German joint labs have been funded by Sino-German Center for Research Promotion. The funded labs are concentrated in Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, Zhejiang University, Tongji University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of Bonn, University of Hamburg, University of Hannove, the University of Tuebingen, Germany Max-planck-institut. Some of the joint labs have been trained to national key laboratory. The research fields of the joint-labs include biology, chemistry, mechanical covering materials, earth science, information science, mathematics, medicine, agriculture and other fields. As the first Sino-German joint lab in Southern China, the establishment of Sino-German Inorganic Membrane Joint Lab would play a great role in promoting the cooperation and exchanges between our school and Southern China region and German research institutes, and enhance the level of international cooperation in our school.

Following the opening ceremony, a workshop was held where scholars had in-depth exchanges and discussions on the topic of inorganic membrane for clean energy and clean environment. Finally, Prof. WANG Haihui, Professor Caro and the experts discussed the future operation and development issues of Sino-German Inorganic Membrane Joint Lab, and gained a lot of valuable suggestions.