The 7th

The 7th International Energy Agency Heat Pump Conference, held at Beijing International Convention Center, Beijing, China, from May 19 to 22, 2002, was a great success. There were more than 330 formal participants from 19 countries, of which 129 from abroad and more than 200 from China. The conference included 8 sessions, 2 technical excursions and 4 social programmes. This was the first time that the IEA Heat Pump Conference was held in a developing country. The conference offered a good opportunity for people in China to learn about heat pump technology and application experience in the world, and made it easy for international friends to appreciate China and Beijing. Many Chinese officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Development and Planning Commission, the State Economic and Trade Commission and the Ministry of Construction were invited to attend the conference. Executives from the electric power industry, the manufacturing industry and organizations charged with the application of heat pump technology, i.e. the Architectural Society of China (ASC), the Chinese Association of Refrigeration (CAR) and the China Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association (CRAA), also participated in the conference. The Chinese government and people have gradually realised the great challenges that go hand in hand with economic development and social progress. Therefore, a strategy of sustainable development has been put forward to improve the utilization ratio of resources, to adjust the energy infrastructure, to expand the use of electric power and to promote constructionrelated energy conservation