The German Chemical Society, in collaboration with the Chinese Chemical Society (CCS), organised the sixth Sino-German Frontiers of Chemistry Symposium for early-career researchers. Twenty early-career researchers each from China and Germany presented their research in Shanghai under the title ‘Exploring New Pathways: From Nature to Technology’ and discussed potential Sino-German collaboration projects. The meeting was supported by the Sino-German Centre for Science Promotion in Beijing.

For the fifth time, the German Chemical Society (GDCh), in collaboration with the Chinese Chemical Society (CCS), organised the “Sino-German Frontiers of Chemistry Symposium” for early-career researchers.

GDCh Executive Director Wolfram Koch welcomed the participants at the opening ceremony in the Wissenschaftsforum on Gendarmenmarkt. In a brief review, he paid tribute to the series, which has now become a tradition: since 2006, five meetings have taken place every two years, alternating between Germany and China. The idea for this exchange dates back to a meeting in Beijing in 2004 between the then CCS and GDCh presidents, Chunli Bai and Henning Hopf.
Christian Hackenberger (Berlin), who was the Head of the scientific committee along with Huaping Xu (Beijing), had organised the programme of presentations thematically into three fascinating sessions, all of which were encompassed by the symposium’s title: “Meeting Challenges in Chemistry and Chemical Biology…“ “…by Efficient Synthetic Methods and Catalytic Processes”, “…by Advanced Materials and Building Blocks” and finally “…by Insight and Control of Complex Systems”.

As with previous meetings, the main symposium was followed by three satellite meetings at Berlin’s universities: the FU, HU and TU. Another highlight was the presentation of a special issue of *Chemistry – An Asian Journal* featuring over 40 invited contributions from former and current Sino-German participants.

The Sino-German Centre for Science Promotion in Beijing, as well as the companies BASF SE, Clariant Produkte (Deutschland) GmbH, Merck KGaA, Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH and Wacker AG, supported the symposium.

Forty young German and Chinese researchers discussed “New Tools in Chemistry” at the fourth Sino-German Frontiers of Chemistry Symposium, held from 3 to 7 September 2012 in Beijing, and at three satellite meetings in Hefei, Dalian and Suzhou. GDCh Vice-President Professor Michael Dröscher attended the opening of the symposium in Beijing.

The scientific presentations and discussions highlighted current developments in the following areas:

• Green and Sustainable Chemistry
• Catalytic Transformations
• Smart Materials
• New Advances in the Chemistry and Biology of Natural Products
• New Tools for Chemical Biology/Proteomics
• Analytical Tools in Chemistry and Beyond

Furthermore, the symposium offered participants the opportunity for personal exchange and may well have laid the foundations for future Sino-German collaborations.

Since 2006, the GDCh and the Chinese Chemical Society (CCS) have been organising such a joint symposium every two years, alternating between China and Germany, to which early-career researchers from both countries are invited.

The organisers would like to thank the Sino-German Centre for the Promotion of Science, as well as the companies BASF SE, Merck KGaA and Wacker Chemie AG, for their financial support of the symposium.