Source: CBMA

Date: October 16, 2015

On October 13, the 14th International Congress on the Chemistry of Cement (ICCC) was held in Beijing International Convention Center. The most outstanding scientists and academicians in the fields of cement and concrete were looking forward to this quadrennial international event.

ICCC is a top event in the international academic circles of cement. Generations of Chinese scientists had made efforts and attempted five times in over 20 years to win the right to host this ICCC. In this year’s ICCC, over 1,000 scientists from nearly 50 countries and regions gathered in Beijing to share this great moment.

ICCC is the event with the longest history, the highest level, the largest scale and the widest influence in the field of cement science. In 1918, the 1st ICCC was held in London; after almost one century, it finally came to China. For all cement scientists in the world, the quadrennial ICCC is as important and worthy as the “Olympic Games”. In this beautiful autumn, active researchers in the global cement and concrete fields gathered in Beijing to report the latest progress of cement science and look forward to the future of cement technology.

This ICCC was jointly hosted by the Chinese Ceramic Society and China Building Materials Academy, and supported and guided by the Ministry of Science and Technology of PRC, China Association for Science and Technology, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Engineering, and China Cement Association. At the same time, it was sponsored by China National Building Materials Group Corporation, Anhui Conch Cement Company Limited, China National Materials Group Corporation Ltd., China Resources Cement Holdings Limited, Lafarge Holcim, CTC, Beijing Triumph International Engineering Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Wulong Chemical Industrial Stock Co., Ltd., etc. The theme of this congress was “Low Carbon and Green Development”.

The opening ceremony was presided over by Mr. Xu Yongmo, President of the Chinese Ceramic Society. Then, Professor Yao Yan, Chair lady of ICCC 2015, Chairlady of the International Scientific Committee, and President of China Building Materials Academy, delivered an opening speech. Mr. Shang Yong, Executive Vice President and the Chief Executive Secretary of China Association for Science and Technology, Mr. Xu Delong, Vice President of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Mrs. Gao Ruiping, Vice President of National Natural Science Foundation of China, attended the opening ceremony and made some remarks. On behalf of industrial associations and enterprises, Mr. Qiao Longde, President of China Building Materials Federation and China Cement Association, and Mr. Song Zhiping, Chairman of the Board of China National Building Materials Group Corporation, delivered speeches.

On behalf of the organizer of ICCC 2015, Professor Yao Yan announces the 14th International Congress on the Chemistry of Cement open! She emphasizes that the theme of ICCC 2015 is “Low Carbon and Green Development”, which is also the ultimate goal towards which cement scientists all over the world have been working. She also hopes that delegates attending the congress can use this unique opportunity to exchange freely and illuminate their opinions in this top academic event.

Mr. Shang Yong points out that under the “New Normal” of China, innovation will be a new engine driving the growth. If traditional industries in China, represented by the cement industry, are driven by technical innovation, they will embrace a bright future. He also indicates that as the 14th ICCC is held in China, peers all over the world highly appreciate China’s achievements in the chemistry of cement, and are optimistic about the future of Chinese cement industry.

Mr. Xu Delong says that cement is essential for building a modern society, and the construction of infrastructure in emerging countries still needs a large amount of cement. At the same time, human beings are facing the challenge of climate change and sparing no effort to tackle with global warming. The cement industry is obligated to offer some solutions, and the cement science still plays an important role.

According to Mrs. Gao Ruiping, materials is an important basis for the social development, and material science and technology is one of the fields in which the researches are the most active in the 21^stcentury. She hopes that ICCC can further enhance the basic research for application of cement and concrete, help optimize and improve the performance of cement, extend the service life of concrete, and reduce the environmental load.

Mr. Qiao Longde points out that the new concept, new theory, new topic, new goal and new experience of “Low Carbon and Green Development” proposed in this ICCC will provide some new technical support for solving some common problems. The Chinese cement circles must cherish the valuable experiences brought by this ICCC and take this opportunity to promote innovation and development in the cement industry. Meanwhile, he also believes that this ICCC will help the academic research of cement, the technical innovation of cement, and the energy conservation and emission reduction of cement in China.

Mr. Song Zhiping briefly introduces the profile of China National Building Materials Group Corporation, and that CNBM has been listed amongFortuneGlobal 500 companies for 5 consecutive years. He firmly believes that the cement industry of China will lead other industries of elementary raw materials in environment control, and make a great contribution to the sound development of the global cement industry. CNBM will support the achievements of this ICCC and the causes of ICCC.

After the opening ceremony, Mr. Xu Delong and other five famous experts delivered keynote speeches on such topics as the cement process technology, the chemistry of cement clinker, the chemistry of cement hydration, etc.

The ICCC 2015 has received 700 papers from 46 countries and regions, which cover all topics in the chemistry of cement and the basic research of concrete application. In the next four days, 25 keynote reports, 26 invited lectures, 198 oral reports and 457 posted papers will be shared. To guarantee the quality of academic papers and exchanges in the meetings, the Organizing Committee has convened two sessions of the International Scientific Committee and two domestic preliminary meetings successively.

The ICCC 2015 also includes technical visits and exchange, meetings of some technical committee members of International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures (RILEM), and the meeting in which the host of next ICCC will be determined. At the moment, the ICCC has received applications from 5 organizations of 4 countries.

The ICCC 2015 also presents special awards of merit to commend scientists who have made great contributions in the research of cement and concrete. Awards for excellent papers of students are presented in the closing ceremony.

With support from China Building Materials Academy, the Asia Cement and Concrete Research Academy will be launched at the closing ceremony.