The 12th IAWA-China Group Annual Meeting & the 16th China-Korea-Japan Joint Seminar on Wood Quality and Utilization, hosted by IAWA-China Group and Organizing Committee of the China-Korea-Japan Research Group of Wood Science, co-organized by the Northeast Forestry University (NEFU), was held on August 15th-17th, 2025, Harbin City of Heilongjiang Province, China. The theme of the conference was “Exploring Nature of Wood to Ensure Wood Security and Quality”. The Vice President of NEFU Haipeng Yu, IAWA Executive Secretary Yafang Yin and Chairman of IAWA China Group Bin Xu delivered opening remarks.


More than 190 participants from 35 organizations of China, Korea, Japan, Laos and Mongolia attended the meeting. There were 3 keynote speakers from three countries providing lectures. Professor Noboru Nakamura of the Green Innovation Center of Okayama University gave a keynote lecture entitled "Current situation of wood industry in Japan and how to jointly contribute to decarbonization in Southeast Asia". Professor Jung-Kwon OH of the Seoul National University delivered a keynote lecture entitled "Structural and Fire Performance of Timber-Concrete Composite Slab Using Notched Plywood Shear Connection". Professor Eryuan Liang, the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ITPCAS) provided a keynote lecture entitled “Wood Anatomy and Dendrochronology: New Frontiers in Understanding Alpine Treeline Patterns, Dynamics and Drivers”. 

After three keynote lectures, in total there were 63 oral presenters giving their presentations on the topics of development trends in wood anatomy, digitizing wood collections, wood formation and structure-function relationships, identification and preservation of wooden cultural heritages, bamboo and wood anatomy enabling efficient utilization, advanced research on novel wood-based materials, tree-ring and climate change, identification and protection of endangered timber species.



Eleven Excellent Presentation Awards (EPA), three Outstanding Poster Awards and six Wood Microscopy Competition Awards for students were awarded by the committee of IAWA-China Group and China-Korea-Japan Research Group of Wood Science. The conference provided a crucial academic platform for participants to deeply exchange cutting-edge research outcomes, fostering collaboration among scholars worldwide in both fundamental studies and technological applications of wood science. This effort has injected new momentum into high-quality development across various research fields, including the conservation of forest biodiversity, efficient utilization of wood resources, and the preservation of wooden cultural relics. 

The 13th Annual Conference of IAWA-China Group will be organized by the Sichuan Agricultural University and the National Furniture Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Center (Chengdu) in 2026 in Chengdu, China.