On April 15, in order to further promote regional academic exchange of bioinformatics, and to implement the national strategy of integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, the 1st Bioinformatics Cogress of the Yangtze River Delta Region was held in Huzhou. Organized by Zhejiang Bioinformatics Society, Bioinformatics Professional Committee of Jiangsu Biomedical Engineering Society, Anhui Bioinformatics Society (preparatory), and Shanghai Bioinformatics Society, the conference was hosted by Huzhou University. A total of 191 well-known experts and scholars in the field of bioinformatics from the Yangtze River Delta region attended the conference. 

President Xu Huixia attended the opening ceremony and delivered a welcome speech. On behalf of the university, she extended a warm welcome to the leaders, experts and scholars, and introduced the long history and culture of Huzhou, the general situation of the university and its achievements in recent years in brain gain, scientific research and innovation, as well as in international cooperation. She pointed out that “interdisciplinary” has become an important feature of the era in scientific development. Bioinformatics, as one of the most active and cutting-edge interdisciplinary disciplines in current life science, has played a pivotal role in the analysis of the molecular mechanism of life, artificial intelligence, new drug research and other biomedical frontiers. She looked forward to active communication between experts and scholars in the conference and hoped new sparks of ideas could be generated to further boost the collaborative innovation and application in the field of bioinformatics in the Yangtze River Delta so as to contribute more to the construction of the science and technology innovation community in this region. 

At the meeting, Sun Zhirong, chairman of the Chinese Bioinformatics Society, Professor Sun Xiao from Southeast University and Professor Zhang Hui from Minnan Normal University delivered speeches respectively. The conference invited Professor Zhou Ruhong from Zhejiang University, Professor Xu Shuhua from Fudan University, Professor Wang Quan from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Professor Zhang Xuejun from Anhui Medical University, Professor Chang Shan from Jiangsu Institute of Technology, Professor Liu Lei from Fudan University, Professor Liu Pengyuan from Zhejiang University, Professor Ye Youqiong from Shanghai Jiao Tong University to give special presentations. Also, a youth forum was set up, in which 9 outstanding young scholars in the field of bioinformatics from the Yangtze River Delta region were invited to serve as forum guests to exchange and discuss about the latest academic progress in bioinformatics.

It is reported that the Chinese Bioinformatics Society has always focused on the frontier and hot issues in the field of bioinformatics research, carried out a large number of academic activities, led the development of the discipline, promoted technological progress, and achieved fruitful results. This conference will promote academic exchanges and collaborative innovation in the field of bioinformatics in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, and contribute to the Yangtze River Delta Science and Technology Innovation Community.