The key project of Special Basic Research Foundation of China "Documenting plants ex-situ conserved in botanical gardens and its information standardization" was launched in SCBG on April 8, 2010. More than 30 participants coming from the Department of Basic Research of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Bureau of Program and Finance of CAS, the Bureau of Life Science and Biotechnology of CAS, the South China Botanical Garden, the Wuhan Botanical Garden, the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden and other 10 botanical gardens attended the meeting.

The CAS-owned botanical gardens are the leaders in the field of ex situ conservation of plants in China. The project is to document the collections of plants in 10 CAS-owned botanical gardens and normalize its basic information. All plant checklists of ex situ conservation representing major flora of China are included. So, after that we will have a clear understanding of ex situ conservation in botanical gardens of China, and then carry out the comprehensive evaluation.

Data standards of plant ex situ conservation have been set out, and all participants have been trained for the conduction of the project.

This is the second project of the SCBG that has been granted by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, following the first one of Collection and preservation of non-food energy plant and associated microorganism resources granted in 2008.