Speech by Dr. Yunnan Gao from the UK
Speech by Dr Yunnan Gao, President of ICorr (UK): Congratulations on the 13th National Corrosion and Protection Congress
The 1st Marine & Offshore Corrosion Prevention Forum
Dear colleagues, friends and distinguished guests,
Good morning/afternoon. I am Dr. Yunnan Gao. It is my great honour to serve as President of the Institute of Corrosion (ICorr, UK). Since the Institute’s foundation in 1959, I am proud to be its first Chinese President.
On behalf of ICorr, I extend my warmest greetings to all of you. As one of the world’s leading professional bodies, ICorr is committed to advancing corrosion science, engineering and technology. More importantly, ICorr centres its mission on “connecting people and knowledge” to foster collaboration and innovation.
Over the past few years, we have built close and farreaching partnerships with the Chinese Society for Corrosion and Protection (CSCP). One of my most memorable moments was the visit to Xi’an in October 2024, when ICorr and CSCP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), opening an exciting new chapter for bilateral cooperation. Since then, we have achieved fruitful outcomes together: In November 2024, we successfully hosted the inaugural ICorr–CSCP Online Webinar Week. In May 2025, I delivered the opening address at the 1st International Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Materials Corrosion and Protection in Beijing. In June 2025, we warmly welcomed the Vice President of CSCP to the UK, which deepened exchanges between our two societies. In August 2025, I visited CSCP together with the President of the European Federation of Corrosion (EFC). In September 2025, we held the 1st ChinaUK Corrosion Summit in Manchester, and jointly attended the EFC Congress in Stavanger, Norway. Looking ahead, I will travel to Xi’an again to participate in the 13th National Corrosion and Protection Congress in November 2025, for which I have high expectations. In recent years, Chinese researchers have made remarkable achievements in corrosion science and protection technologies, spearheading global progress across multiple research frontiers. An outstanding example is Professor Li Xiaogang. His pioneering “Corrosion Big Data Theory” has gained worldwide recognition. With an h-index of 107, he holds the highest record globally in corrosion research. He was also awarded the Marcel Pourbaix Medal, the highest honour of the International Corrosion Council, making him the only Chinese scholar to receive this prestigious award in 30 years. These accomplishments fully demonstrate the strength, talent and growing global influence of China’s corrosion research community. On behalf of the Institute of Corrosion, I offer my warmest congratulations and best wishes to the National Corrosion and Protection Congress. Thank you.