On April 10th to 11th 2012, the Workshop on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)--New Developments and Challenges in the Implenientation of the Stockholm Convention,hosted by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Environmental Protection Department and organized by Hong Kong Baptist University,was held in Hong Kong Baptist University Lam Woo International Conference Centre. Ms Anissa Wong Sean--yee, Permanent Secretary for the Environment/ the Director of Environmental Protection,Professor Huang Weiguo,Vice-Chancellor of Hong Kong Baptist University attended the meeting and delivered opening speeches. Yu Lifeng,Deputy Director-General of the Foreign Economic Cooperation Office of the Ministry of Environmental Protection,was present at the invitation and made a theme report on China' s ImplementatiOn Progress of the Stockholm Convention and Key Tasks of POPs Pollution Prevention and Control during the 12th Five-Year Period. About 80 representatives from Hong Kong and the mainland environmental protection departments, research institutes,environmental civil groups and enterprises attended the workshop.

Deputy Director-General Yu Lifeng pointed out in his speech that the Hong Kong SAR authority had done positive and productive work in carrying out the Stockholm Convention implementation and had much experience and many practices worthy of learning in aspects of legislation, supervision,monitoring,and emission reduction technologies for POPs convention implementation and pollution prevention and control. This seminar offered mainland provinces and cities a good opportunity for learning and exchanging ideas. It was hoped that Hong Kong and the mainland provinces could have more exchanges and experience sharing in the future.

On the workshop,Jiang Guibin,the academician of Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences,gave a keynote address on the Past Ten Years of China' s Persistent Organic Pollutants Research--Where are We and Where to Go?Experts from Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Hong Kong Baptist University maderespective reports on topics such as research dynamics of POPs convention implementation, monitoring and effectiveness evaluation,newly-listed POPs,and emissions reduction technoiogies. Staff from Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department,Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department,Environmental Protection Bureaus of the first group of demonstration areas Guangdong,Shaanxi, Shanghai,Ningbo of the SIRE project (China-UNIDO GEF capacity-building project), and Shenzhen Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center gave presentations on their implementation experiences.

The workshop organized participants visits to Baptist University's Dioxin Analysis Laboratory,Hong Kong Tuen Mun EcoPark and the Hong Kong Chemical Waste Treatment Centre.