Jointly organized by the Beijing Municipal Agriculture Bureau, the Beijing Soil Fertilizer Extension Service Station, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the 4th Asian Soil Partnership workshop was opened by Mr. Zhao Yongzhi (Director of Beijing Soil Fertilizer Extension Service Station), Mr. Rapibhat Chandarasrivongs (functional chair of the ASP), and Mr. Eduardo Mansur (Director of the Land and Water Division at FAO). During the opening, the work done by member countries since the endorsement of the Asian Soil Partnership (ASP) implementation plan in December 2016 was recalled:

• The development of national soil organic carbon maps, which contributed to the global soil organic carbon map;
• The participation of national laboratories in the South-East Asia Laboratory Network (SEALNET), towards the harmonization of regional soil laboratory analysis;
• The participation of countries in writing the first ever Soil Atlas of Asia, a project financed by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission;
• The development of the Soil Doctors Global programme, which attracted the interest of many countries in the region;
• The implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management, which is a strongly country-driven activity.

The work done by Thailand as ASP Chair was as well acknowledged in the framework of reminding participants on the objectives of their fourth meeting:

1. To review the activities performed by the ASP from December 2016 (endorsement of the ASP implementation plan) to May 2018;
2. To decide on activities for immediate execution for the period 2018-2019; and
3. To elect the ASP Chair and the regional Chairs for Pillars 1, 2, 3 and 5 for the period 2018-2020 (3 years mandate) 

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