On March 30, 2015, members of the American Geophysical (AGU) organization visited the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS) to discuss future cooperation. The delegation included AGU President Margret Leinen , CEO Chris McEntee, chief operating officer Frank Krause, and international affairs secretary Sue Webb.

Prof. Rixiang Zhu, the director of IGGCAS, welcomed the AGU delegates to the Institute and gave a brief introduction about the history of IGGCAS and some of its key research projects. Margret Leinen, the AGU president then gave an overview of AGU's global activities and discussed AGU meetings, scientific journals and other aspects of AGU. She put a strong emphasis on the growing impact and interaction with Asian scientists, particularly from China, and the need for AGU to better integrate with these communities.

Following this, the AGU delegates and participating researchers and graduate students from IGGCAS engaged in a broad discussion of AGU, Chinese Earth science organizations, the publication process and a wide range of other topics. A topic of particular concern for both parties was the underrepresentation of Asian scientists on the editorial boards for AGU journals. This led to the discussion of strategies to help encourage young scientists to become reviewers and how to help them overcome the challenges that they may face during the publication process.

The conclusion of the meeting saw the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the AGU and the Chinese Geophysical Society (CGS). After the meeting Prof. Rixiang Zhu gave the AGU party a guided tour of the facilities at IGGCAS.

The American Geophysical (AGU) is a non-profit scientific organization founded by the National Research Council in 1919. The main mission of the AGU is to provide a platform for Earth scientists to promote the benefits of their work to society, which is achieved through a broad range of publications, scientific meetings and key interactions with the public and policy makers.