Under the preliminary preparation of CAS Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment (hereinafter referred to as "Center for Excellence"), the launching meeting of CAS S&T Project-Atmospheric Ozone Traceability and Control held in Beijing on September 14. Prof. BAI Chunli, President of CAS attended the meeting and delivered a speech. Deputy Director ZHANG Yongqing, Bureau of Frontier Sciences and Education CAS, presided over the meeting. The leaders of the Department of S&T for Social Development of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Department of Science, Technology and Finance of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, as well as relevant academicians, experts and members of the project group attended the meeting.

Prof. He Hong, Chief Scientist of the Center for Excellence and Academician of Chinese Academy of engineering, reported on the new situation and challenges of air pollution prevention and control in China, and the overall plan and research content of the project. The project aims to develop photochemical smog theory to reflect the characteristics of air pollution in China and put forward reasonable means and technical solutions for effective control of ozone pollution in China. With the overall goal, the project will focus on the development of measurement equipment for atmospheric free radicals and key oxidants, and the improvement of the smog box simulation platform and numerical simulation system. It will clarify the spatial and temporal distribution rules of ozone in key regions of China and its formation mechanism and the main control factors. Besides, the project will develop the key technologies, materials and equipment for the treatment of ozone and its precursors NOx and VOCs, and select typical areas of air pollution in China to apply the research results to the coordinated control of PM2.5 and ozone, so as to promote the continuous improvement of regional air quality. The experts highly affirmed the design and initiation of the project, and consulted the project.

Prof. BAI Chunli pointed out that the launch of the "Ozone" Project comes at the right time, which is an important initiative taken by CAS for the major needs of the country. The task of air pollution prevention and control is still arduous. As a national strategic scientific and technological force, CAS should respond quickly and rise the challenges. Since its inception, the Center for Excellence has achieved a series of innovative results, which has laid a good foundation for further research work. President BAI finally put forward specific requirements for the implementation of the "Ozone" Project.