The 2020 World Life Science Conference and the first World Life Science Exposition will be held in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, from Nov 13 to 15, China Association for Science and Technology announced on Friday.

The event, organized by China Association for Science and Technology and Ministry of Science and Technology, will focus on biology, medicine, environment science and many other frontier studies in life sciences and health issues that people are generally concerned about.

It will consist of five parts, including keynote speeches, penal discussions, forums, popular science activities as well as the first world life science exposition.

It will gather an estimated 3,000 participants, including 200 foreign guests, to discuss hot issues such as health promotion, chronic disease prevention and control, aging and other problems that are of great concern to China and countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Wang Xiaoning, general secretary of China Union of Life Science Societies, which is affiliated to China Association for Science and Technology, said the conference aims to promote exchanges and cooperation in developing countries, push forward more breakthroughs in life science research and technological innovation, and responds to some major challenges such as epidemics, aging populations, environmental pollution and resource shortage to maintain sustainable development of the world.

"The conference will increase the efficiency of academic exchanges and highlight the role of life science progress in the construction of the shared human health community," he said.

The association also announced on Friday China's top 10 advances in life sciences in 2019, including the evolution of ruminant genome and its implications for human health as well as new plan to improve the efficacy of treatment to nasopharyngeal cancer.