At the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China and on the basis of consensus reached at the UN Biological Weapons Convention Tianjin Symposium in June this year, the Tianjin University Synthetic Biology Center for Biosafety Research and Strategy(CBRS) held a side event on the afternoon of August 10 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. It was designed at further promoting the Code of Conduct for Scientists, which Chinese and Pakistani delegations presented at the Eighth Review Conference and to be open to suggestions from all State Parties and biological scientists.  

Zhang Weiwen, a Professor of CBRS hosted the meeting as Chairman and spokesman for the side event.  Lv Xiaodong, Deputy Director of the  Department of Arms Control and Disarmament of Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs attended and supported this side event as the representative of Chinese Government. Doctor Xue Yang of Tianjin University Law School and CBRS, Doctor van der Bruggen of KNAW and Professor Dando of the University of Bradford also attended this event as spokesmen. The side event was keenly watched by all State Parties and nearly 90 delegates from different countries attended this event.  

Professor Zhang and Doctor Xue elaborated on China’s understanding of the Code of Conduct, the basic principles of drawing up the Code of Conduct and the Details respectively. Doctor van der Bruggen of KNAW and Professor Dando successively explained the relevant experience in developing the Code of Conduct for Scientists of Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences and the importance of Biosafety Education in the Code of Conduct. 

The event lasted for more than two hours and was received in a warm atmosphere. The representatives from the United States, Russia, Germany, France, Iran, Pakistan and other countries raised questions on issues of concern. Mr. Gjorginski, Chairman of 2018 Meeting of Experts of States Parties to the BWC spoke highly on the results of the side meeting and highly praised China's contribution to the promotion of the Code of Conduct for Scientists in Life Sciences. After the meeting, experts and scholars from the Japanese delegation, the Croatian delegation, the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, and the Johns Hopkins University congratulated on the success of the side event and hoped to communicate continuously with China in different forms in the future.