The 25th Conference of the International Cartographic Association (ICA) was held in Paris days ago, during which a new executive committee of ICA was constituted by election. On the recommendation of the State Bureau of Surveying Mapping & Geographical Information and the Chinese Society of Surveying & Mapping, Prof. Liu Yaolin, dean of the School of Resources & Environmental Science of Wuhan University, was elected vice president of ICA and member of the executive committee of ICA. Prof. Du Qingyun from the same school was elected chair of the Commission of Theoretical Cartography of ICA.

The two professors’ appointment to ICA leadership marks a major step forward, which signifies that China’s research on cartography and geographical information has gained wider international recognition and the international status of Chinese researchers in this field has been upgraded significantly.

ICA is the world authoritative body for cartography, the discipline dealing with the conception, production, dissemination and study of maps. The mission of ICA is to promote the discipline and profession of cartography in an international context. The Association works with national and international governmental and commercial bodies and with other international scientific societies to achieve these aims.  Currently ICA has more than 100 national or affiliate members. China joined ICA in 1980.