From April 12 to 16, the premier summit in global chemical process safety—the Spring Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and the 22nd Global Congress on Process Safety (GCPS)—took place in Houston, USA. China University of Petroleum (East China) (UPC) hosted the China Session, with Professor Zhao Dongfeng serving as Session Chair. Distinguished attendees included Shakeel H. Kadri, Executive Director and CEO of AIChE Center for Chemical Process Safety (AIChE-CCPS); Louisa A. Nara, former Technical Director of CCPS; Scott Berg, former Executive Director of CCPS; Matías A. Massello, Chair of the Global Congress on Process Safety; Chen Yifeng, Senior Vice President of Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd.; and James Sneddon, Principal Consultant & US Director of Risktec Solutions.
The China Session attracted over 100 experts and scholars from across the globe. Participants from UPC, Risktec Solutions, Qingdao OASIS Science & Technology Development Group, Wanhua Chemical Group, China Occupational Safety and Health Association (COSHA), China Chemical Safety Association (CCSA), and CNPC Research Institute of Safety & Environment Technology, among other domestic and international organizations, engaged in lively discussions on key topics, including annual progress of process safety in China, strategic shifts in process safety management (PSM), PSM assessment systems, advanced concepts and practices in incident investigation, enhancing risk identification capabilities, and learning from process safety incident cases. The sessions showcased the innovative value of China’s solutions in global chemical process safety. Notably, the annual progress of China’s process safety presented by the UPC research team garnered strong attention from international counterparts.
Currently, the Global Congress on Process Safety is the largest in scale, broadest in topic coverage, and most influential international conference on global process safety. To date, UPC has successfully hosted the China Session for 14 times. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the in-depth collaboration initiated with AIChE-CCPS in 2006. Over the past two decades, UPC has made remarkable contributions to China’s process safety landscape through various initiatives: delivering PSM training programs, organizing international conferences, translating and adapting CCPS monographs, and conducting specialized PSM research. These efforts have profoundly supported the formulation of national process safety regulations and policies, the development of process safety resources, the advancement of process safety technologies, and the cultivation of professional talents in chemical safety. As a result, UPC has established a strong reputation and influence in both domestic and international process safety communities.
Translated: Sun Yuqi, Geng Haiwei
Reviewed: Xu Xiaoyan
Updated: 2026-04-28
