On October 11-14th, the 9th China-Korea-Japan Joint Symposium on Rumen Metabolism and Physiology (JRS2013) was convened in Changsha, which is the second time that the conference was held in China.
Hosted by the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ISA), the four-day symposium themed " Rumen•Physiology•Metabolism" has drawn more than 200 scientists and students from Korea, Japan, Mongolia and other countries.
        Prof. C.S. McSweeney from Australia, Prof. R.I. Mackie from America, Prof. R.J. Wallace from the United Kingdom and Prof. L.L. Guan and Prof. K.A. Beauchemin from Canada were invited as speakers and judges, and five invited speakers made excellent presentation as “Ecology, physiology and genomics of Synergistete bacteria”, “Rumen and colonic Bacteroidetes share a conserved mechanism for xylan degradation”, “Molecular mechanisms of host microbial interactions in the rumen: epithelial microbial community and host gene expression”, “New perspectives on dietary approaches to reduce enteric methane from beef and dairy production” and “Sub-acute ruminal acidosis, early on-farm observations”, respectively. Then five invited speakers made glowing reviews on 32 young scientists’ oral presentation and gave useful suggestions about their research. All participants from home and East Asia countries earned a lot from their comments and suggestions. All activities of this symposium reflect four elements: microbiology ecosystem, rumen function and manipulation, greenhouse gas emission, and additives on rumen manipulation.
        The Symposium sponsored in 1997, and the Symposium has attracted broad participation of experts and scholars, especially for young scientists from all over Asia. The Chinese Society of Animal Nutrition acceded to this symposium in 2005. At present, the Symposium is held every two years, and the 10th Symposium will hold in Korea.