In 2010, the IOB continued to adhere to "independence, cooperation and win-win" as basic principles, actively deepened and expanded substantial cooperation with developed countries and surrounding countries, and successfully held a number of major international conferences, which greatly enhanced the international influence of the institute.

1. International exchange is more frequent and international influence is increasing
Through international cooperation and communication, the IOB published 13 papers with SCI impact factor > 5, and 3 papers with impact factor > 10, including 1 in Nature.
In 2010, the IOB signed 7 cooperative agreements with foreign research institutions. The "Joint GIS Laboratory" was set up with the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) of USA.

In 2010, 33 staff members were serving 69 posts in various international organizations and international journals, including 7 serving as the chief editor or associate chief editor and 4 as councilor or secretary general. As representatives of CAS, 2 scientists from the IOB participated in the Chinese delegation and contributed to the negotiations at the "Convention on Biological Diversity." The IOB hosted 3 foreign visiting professors and 1 foreign young international scientist in 2010.　

2. Capacity of holding high-level, large-scale international conferences is gradually increased. 
In 2010, the IOB held 8 international (bilateral) conferences and 1 international training courses related to plant photosynthesis, grassland ecosystem, systematic and evolutionary botany, energy plant and other fields.

The 15th International Conference on Photosyn-thesis was the first large-scale international conference organized by the IOB. Nearly 1,000 participants from around the world attended the conference. In total, 14 distinguished scientists, including Nobel Prize winner Professor John Walker, were invited to give talks. The holding of the conference will greatly promote photosynthesis research, food production and bio-energy industry processes in China and improve the international visibility of Chinese scientists in photosynthesis and relevant aspects of research.

Sponsored by CAS, the IOB hosted the 1st SCO National Academies Summer School for Young Scientists: Study of Grassland Ecosystems, in 2010. Through the study and sharing of experience in grassland ecosystem protection, rational use of grassland resources and biological diversity, and sustainable use, the training course enhanced exchanges and cooperation in SCO countries.

3. International cooperation projects made good progress
The IOB obtained 8 international cooperation projects in 2010, and the total funds for international cooperation were 5,800,000 yuan. The collaboration project "Flora of China", jointly compiled by the IOB and the Missouri Botanical Garden, has been published, with 19 volumes and 17 illustrations. All volumes and illustrations should be finished by 2012. Because of excellent results and the international influence of the project, the U.S. editor Dr. Peter H. Raven, honorary director of the state Key Laboratory for Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, received the 2010 Chinese Government Friendship Award.

In 2010, the IOB initiated the compilation research work of "Pan-Himalayan Flora" The flora project will record about 20,000 species of native and naturalized vascular plants from the Pan-Himalayan area. It is the largest project after the compilation of Flora of China for Chinese plant taxonomists. Botanists from the other Himalayan counties, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal, Indian, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the herbaria in UK, USA and Japan, which have important collections from the Himalayas, and authorities will be involved in this project. The Pan-Himalayan Flora project will become the world's largest and most unique flora record of the geographical area.

 The project "stocking rate in mass flux of Inner Mongolia" (MAGIM) in cooperation with Germany is currently focused on long-term grazing experiments. In 2010, the MAGIM project published 38 SCI papers in international peer journals including Nature, Global Change Biology, and Soil Biology & Biochemistry. Plant and Soil organized a special issue for the project.