A public service project initiating meeting was held at the Chinese National Compound Library (CNCL) in the afternoon of May 15, 2012. This project entitled "Improvement of drug screening technology platform and strengthening of service capability" is commissioned by the National Center for Drug Screening (NCDS) and sponsored by Shanghai Municipality. Professor Xin Xie (Deputy Director of NCDS) presented the background and execution plan of this project to the expert panel, consisting of Professor Dequan Ye (Dean, School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Jiaotong University), Professor Yizhun Zhu (Dean, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University), Professor Xu Lin (Assistant Director, Institute for Nutritional Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Professor Weicheng Zhou of Shanghai Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry and Dr. Zhuohan Hu (Chairman, RILD Research Institute for Liver Diseases). Deputy Division Chief of Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, Madam Huiping Xiao, Professor Ming-Wei Wang and Professor Fajun Nan, among others, attended the meeting and discussed the suggestions provided by the experts.

The expert panel believes that the project is of strong public interest, would aid in China’s efforts in drug discovery and should receive unwavering support. Meanwhile, NCDS must expand its public relation coverage to encourage more clients to participate in and to use the technology platform and professional services.