On May 22, 2024, a meeting took place at the headquarters of the Polish Geological Institute-NRI in Warsaw between delegations of the State Geological Survey (PSG) and the Chinese Geological Survey (CGS), during which the agreement on mutual cooperation was renewed.

The Polish side was represented by the Director of the Polish Geological Institute-NRI, prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Szamałek, Deputy Director for Research and Development, prof. dr hab. Stanisław Mikulski, Head of the International Cooperation Team Marta Banasiewicz and specialists: Radomir Pachytel, dr Michał Tomczak, dr Grzegorz Uścinowicz, dr Zbigniew Małolepszy and a representative of the Ministry of Climate and Environment Magdalena Gucwa-Rydelek.

The Chinese side was represented by: Xu Xueyi - deputy president from the CGS, Zhang Haiqi - director general of the CGS Geological Survey Department, Xing Lixia - deputy director of the Guangzhou Marine Geology Branch of the CGS, Li Wei - director of the Foreign Cooperation Branch, Department of Science, Technology and International Cooperation of the CGS, and Zhang Jinpeng - scientific researcher of the Guangzhou Marine Geology Branch of the CGS.

The meeting included presentations from both parties on:

• the structure and scope of PGI-NRI's activities,
• Polish programme of exploration for offshore massive sulphide deposits,
• Geo3D geological modelling and 3D geological model viewer,
• mineral resources in Poland,
• geology and history of the Baltic Sea.

The Chinese side presented general information about the CGS and the history of cooperation between the surveys.

The presentations were followed by a discussion to establish priority directions for cooperation:

• joint cruises and research at sea,
• training of PGI-NRI staff in deep-sea exploration methods and equipment operation,
• MAR sediment drilling using the MeBo seabed data acquisition (CGS) platform,
• provision of test materials and analytical equipment,
• exchange of experience in the design, equipment and maintenance of research vessels,
• joint scientific projects and publications, and consultations on the regulations of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the International Seabed Authority (ISA), and the activities of the Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia (CCOP).

The signing ceremony took place in the main hall of the PGI-NRI Geological Library. The agreement with CGS will be valid for 5 years in terms of:

• regional geology and mineral resource assessment,
• geophysical recognition of mineral resources and groundwater,
• marginal marine sediments and coastal processes,
• deep-sea exploration and environmental impact assessment,
• global climate change, environmental research,
• hydrocarbon fields, petroleum systems and reservoir processes,
• geothermal energy,
• geological storage of carbon dioxide,
• geohazards of natural and man-made origin,
• 3D mapping in geology, geological modelling and predictive mapping,
• advanced methods and technologies in geosciences using, Big Data analytics, cloud computing, Data Mining, machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Participants had the opportunity to visit the Geological Museum, the library and see the laboratory with the SHRIMP IIe ion microprobe.

Signing of an agreement between the Polish Geological Survey and the Chinese Geological Survey. In the foreground, from left: PGI-NRI director prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Szamałek and Xu Xueyi - deputy president of the CGS

Li Wei's presentation on general information about CGS

Visit to the ion microprobe laboratory