The 25th International Pig Veterinary Society (IPVS) Congress will be held in Chongqing, China, June 11-14, 2018. The 2018 International Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Symposium (IPRRS2018) will be held simultaneously, making it a unique edition for the IPVS Congress. These conferences aim at updating the swine industry with cutting-edge veterinary science, and providing a great chance for scientists, diagnosticians, practitioners and producers to come together to discuss the problems and seek the solutions for swine disease control.
The conferences will be held at the Chongqing Yuelai International Convention Center, which is an ideal home to a comprehensive conference and exhibition.
Chongqing, a well-known mountainous city with a history of more than 3,000 years, has the sixth largest gross domestic product in China. It is situated in the southeast of Sichuan Basin, at the joint of two rivers, the Yangtze and the Jialing, with numerous beautiful mountain and river sceneries. Delegates from around the world will have the opportunity to enjoy the distinctive hospitality with marvelous food.
The organizing work for IPVS Congress so far:
- The sponsorship program closed at the end of 2017. There are 35 sponsors at different levels to support this event. All these sponsors are listed on the IPVS2018 website.
- The media partner program closed early this year. Five local and eight international media partners are invited to promote and cover the congress. All of them are listed on the IPVS2018 website.
- All invited speakers are confirmed with 20 from abroad and six local. They will present their latest research, achievements and solutions dealing with all segments of swine health and production.
- The event is expected to attract 3,000 delegates. The registration peak is expected to come in April as the online registration will be closed on May 1, 2018.
- The abstract collection has come to an end. A total of 918 abstracts from 40 countries (including 337 from China) have been received, with 164 (34 from China) selected for oral presentation and 754 for poster.
The organizer will host the following activities during and after the event, in addition to the regular program:
- Pre-conference meeting. This will focus on practical solutions for specific swine diseases in China and be held in the afternoon of June 11. The meeting’s official language is Chinese but simultaneous interpretation service on-site will be provided. Professor Huanchun Chen and Professor Gaiping Zhang, members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, together with another seven local speakers, are set to deliver keynote speeches.
- Young Veterinarian’s Bursary. The IPVS Congress offers Young Veterinarians Bursaries (CNY10,000 each after tax) to six authors whose abstracts are chosen for oral presentation. The applicants (scientists, practitioners, etc.) should be age 35 years or younger. As of April 4, 33 applications have been received. The final winners will be announced at the closing ceremony in the afternoon of June 14.
- Tianzow farm tour. Tianzow, a local strategic partner, will support this farm tour on June 15, with 100 delegates invited to visit their demo farm.
- Clinical Veterinarian Saloon. The saloon will be held in the afternoon of June 13. Experienced swine veterinarians and field experts are invited to chair this saloon and discuss interesting, novel, unusual, or obscure cases that they have encountered in the field. The details will be announced on IPVS2018 website.
Social program and activities are also planned:
- Welcome cocktail party. All registered delegates are welcome to join the opening ceremony and the afterward welcome cocktail party in the evening of June 11.
- Gala dinner. The gala dinner will be held in the evening of June 13.
- Phone charging area: With the support from IDEXX, there will be a space with tables and chairs for charging mobile phones and communicating during breaks. This area will be on the first floor of the conference center.
About the swine industry in China
China is the biggest pork production and consumption country in the world. The pork output in 2017 was reported to be 53.4 million tons, accounting for more than 50 percent of the global total. The 2017 production represents a rise from two consecutive years’ decline since 2015. China’s per capita consumption of pork is 41 kg, ranking in the top 5 in the world. Over the past three decades, China’s swine industry has made tremendous progress, achieving basically the goal of domestic balance between supply and demand. At present, the industry is facing serious challenges in environment protection, high production cost, food safety and animal welfare issues, etc. The industry and governments have recognized these issues and the industry is already on the way to transforming itself into a business with ecology, quality and efficiency. More novel technologies are needed to help farmers produce quality and safe hogs in accordance with the criterion of environment protection and animal welfare and, of course, to make better life by swine farming.
About CAAV, the local organizer
The Chinese Association of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine (CAAV) is an academic and public-welfare association initiated by the scientists and technologists who are dedicated to education and research in animal production and veterinary medicine. CAAV is a nationwide, nonprofit organization, registered with China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs. As part of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, CAAV works closely with the nation’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and Ministry of Science and Technology.
CAAV was established in 1936. As one of the historic academic organizations, it has 36 branches and more than 60,000 members, which cover the areas such as animal genetic breeding, nutrition, veterinary and medicine, environment protection, traditional Chinese veterinary medicine, etc.
About IPVS
The International Pig Veterinary Society (IPVS) is an association of specialists in pig health and production. The objectives of the Society shall be the following:
- To hold international congresses for the exchange of knowledge related to pig health and production
- To promote the formation of Pig Veterinary Societies in all pig producing countries and the cooperation between such societies