On April 22, the preparatory work meeting for the New Technology Application Branch of the Guangdong Urban Planning Association was held at the Guangdong Building. The conference was chaired by Wang Hao, the Secretary General of the Guangdong Urban Planning Association and Deputy Director of the Guangdong Urban & Rural Planning and Design Institute. 17 leaders and guests including Hu Hai, Secretary General of the Urban Planning New Technology Application Committee of Urban Planning Society of China, and Xia Lanting, Deputy Director of the Construction Information Center of Guangdong Province attended the meeting.

On March 26th, the institute signed the strategic cooperation framework agreement with China Railway Siyuan Survey and Design Institute Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Railway Fourth Institute") in Wuhan. Han Xiangyang, Deputy Dean of Railway Fourth Institute, and Qiu Yanqing, Dean of the institute attended the signing ceremony. Deputy Dean Wang Hao signed the strategic cooperation framework agreement between both parties on behalf of the institute. The departments such as Urban Development Research Center, Big Data Center, Planning Institute No.2 and so on attended the signing ceremony.

On March 16, Lin Juan, the Deputy Director of Guangzhou Land Resources and Planning Commission led the delegation to visit our institute for research and guidance as well as held a symposium in our institute. Guo Zhuangshi, the Deputy Director of the provincial housing and urban-rural development department attended the meeting. Dean Qiu Yanqing and Deputy Dean Wang Hao as well as the person in charge of Planning Institute No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 and Urban Development Research Center attended the symposium for discussion.

The beginning of the new year has witnessed the official kick-off of the "2018 Spring Exchange Activity" on the morning of February 27th. As an important technical exchange activity of our institute, the "Spring Exchange Meeting" is aimed to provide technical staff of the institute with a platform for summarizing projects, exchanging experience, understanding each other, and learning from each other, so that new concepts, new ideas and new practices in the industry can be timely communicated and exchanged, and the motivation for innovation among each staff can be further stimulated.

In order to mobilize and promote the technological exchange and innovation of the institute, and cultivate the young technical backbone, the "50-member group of Guangdong Urban & Rural Planning and Design Institute" was established in January 2018 after the organization and planning by the Chief Engineering Office.

      On January 24th, Yao Biyun, President of Zhejiang Zhuochuang Rural Construction Culture and Tourism Development Co., Ltd, and his party came to our institute for discussions and exchanges. The two sides held a signing ceremony of the strategic cooperation framework agreement. President Qiu Yanqing, Secretary Qian Zhongqiang and the department heads of Production and Management Department, Planning Institute III, Planning Institute V, the Urban Development Research Center, and the Urban Architectural Design Office attended the discussion and exchange. The deputy inspector of the Provincial Housing Urban-Rural Construction Department, Wei Zhenfa, director of the Village and Town Office, Song Jian attended the signing ceremony.

      On January 23rd, President Xiong Zhengyuan, President of Guangzhou Municipal Engineering Design Research Institute, and his party came to our institute for discussions and exchanges. The two sides held a signing ceremony of strategic cooperation framework agreement. The department heads of the administrative management department, the production and management department, the chief engineer office, the three planning institutes and the municipal institute attended the discussion and exchange. Secretary Qian Zhongqiang presided over the meeting. President Qiu Yanqing on behalf of our institute signed a framework agreement on strategic cooperation between the two sides.

      On December 14th, The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Housing Urban-Rural Construction issued the Decision on the Recognition of Advanced Collective, Advanced Workers and Model Workers in the National Housing Construction System (issued by The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security in 2017,No 93). Our institute has won the honorary title of "National Housing and Urban-Rural Construction System Advanced Collective ", which is another special honor after winning the title of "National Civilized Unit".

        On the Oct. 26th, Zhang Shaokang, Director of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau of Guangdong Province，Allen Payne, President of Bartlett School of London University and their parties arrived at our institute for academic exchanges.