The 57th Session of the ISI (The International Statistical Institute) was held in Durban, South Africa, on 16-22 August 2009. At the invitation of the Organization Committee of Durban Session, the National Statistical Society of China (NSSC) sent a six-member-delegation headed by Mr. Sui Shengli, Deputy Secretary-General of NSSC, to attend the meeting. The Provincial Statistical Societies of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Fujian, and Qinghai, also respectively organized delegations to attend the meeting. Totally 55 delegates from China Statistical Circles (including Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Taiwan Province) participated the event.
For 124 years since its foundation, the ISI Session was organized every two years. The Durban Session was the first one which was hosted in Africa. More than 2500 delegates from 130 countries and regions attended the meeting. The total number of participants was more than 3000. Mr. Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa, senior government officials of South Africa, Prof. Denise Lievesley, President of the ISI, and Executive Board Members of the ISI, attended the opening ceremony. President Zuma delivered a long and brilliant speech at the opening ceremony, focusing on the practical solutions of statistics facing the challenges of the global financial crisis.
During the Session, the NSSC delegation presented two invited papers (IP), i.e. “Situation, Challenges and Development Direction of China’s Urban Statistics” by the Department of Urban Statistics of NBS, and “Domestic ICP Practice Comparison in China” by the International Statistical Information Center of NBS, one special topic contributed paper (STCP), “Demographic Studies of China's Ethnic Minorities” by the Statistical Research Institute of NBS, and one poster presentation (PP), “China’s Regional Division and Regional Statistics” by the Department of Comprehensive Statistics of NBS.
