BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee kicked off its 51st session on Tuesday in Guangzhou, the capital city of south China's Guangdong province, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said in a statement on its website.
Yu Yong, deputy director of CMA, was elected chairman of the committee. Due to its outstanding contribution in typhoon forecasting technologies and defense, the Guangdong (Provincial) Meteorological Service was given the "Dr. Kintanar Award for Typhoon-Related Disaster Mitigation."
At the session, the committee will also review its work in 2018, outline its plan for this year, and update its strategic plan for 2017-2021. The session will last for four days.
A small expo will be held on the sidelines of the session to display the progress and achievements China has made in weather satellites, typhoon monitoring and forecasting as well as data sharing.
The Typhoon Committee is an intergovernmental body established in 1968 under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), in order to promote and coordinate the planning and implementation of measures required for minimizing the loss of life and material damage caused by typhoons in the Asia-Pacific region.
