On July 27, 2026, Academician George F. Gao, Director of the Academic Committee of the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was awarded the Commemorative Badge marking the 80th Anniversary of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The award ceremony was presided over by President Akhylbek Kurishbayev, who personally signed and issued the honorary certificate to Academician Gao.

    This honor recognizes Academician Gao’s long-term dedication to global health research and his consistent efforts to advance China-Kazakhstan scientific cooperation on emerging infectious diseases and zoonoses, as well as his commitment to building international academic platforms under the Belt and Road Initiative. President Kurishbayev highly commended Academician Gao’s outstanding achievements in the One Health field, and expressed expectations for accelerating the joint construction of the Belt and Road One Health Research Center at Kazakhstan National Agrarian Research University.

    In his remarks of gratitude, Prof. Gao noted that zoonoses pose shared threats to both China and Kazakhstan. Supported by research strengths from the Institute of Microbiology, CAS, Zhejiang University and Shenzhen Technology University, the Chinese side will push forward joint vaccine R&D and short-term academic exchanges for young scholars, upholding the 4C scientific cooperation principles: Communication, Coordination, Cooperation and healthy Competition.

    Both sides will fully implement all consensus reached during the bilateral symposium and establish long-term collaborative mechanisms, striving to jointly boost regional capacity to prevent and control emerging infectious diseases, safeguard sustainable animal husbandry development and protect public health security across Central Asia.