As invited by Doctor Andrew Constable, Co-chairman of the Work- Group on the Indian Sector (WGSOIS) of Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) and Chief Scientist of Australian Antarctic Division and Tsuneo Odate, Professor of the National Institute of Polar Research of Japan, Zhu Guoping, Associate Professor of the College of Marine Sciences, attended the First Member Meeting of the Wor- Group on the Indian Sector (WGSOIS) of Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) held in Tokyo of Japan on August 12-16. Nearly 20 scientists from Australia, Japan, France, China, India and other countries and regions attended this meeting. As Chinese representative of the work-group, Zhu Guoping attended this meeting together with Professor Shi Jiuxin from the Ocean University of China, and received some subsidies from the Organizing Committee.

Focusing on the goals of the Work-Group on the Indian Sector (WGSOIS) of Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS), the meeting discussed and summarized the historical and future surveys and schedules of various countries in this sector. In addition, the meeting also made analysis and reached consensus regarding the key motive force of marine observation and surveys of ecosystem, the status of multi-disciplinary observation, the gaps in key observation, the challenges in regional priority researches, etc. This meeting provided an ideal platform of international cooperation for those countries currently conducting scientific surveys in the Indian Sector. At this meeting, Zhu Gouping presented a report entitled Biological and ecological studies of China in the Indian Sector of the Southern Ocean, and summarized the work done by our country in the Indian Sector. This meeting fully embodied the awareness degree of SHOU in Antarctic bio-researches, strengthened our exchange of ideas with international Antarctic marine research and ecosystem research institutions, and laid a solid foundation for further international cooperation.