HISTORY OF THE CHINESE SOCIETY OF DIGESTIVE ENDOSCOPY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH JAPANESE ENDOSCOPISTS

Abstract

In December 1972, the same year that Japan and China normalized diplomatic relations, the first endoscopic examination in China was conducted at Peking Union Medical College with the Japanese doctorsʼ support. Since then, Japan and Chinaʼs gastrointestinal endoscopy societies have continued their friendship, and this history of exchange is now 50 years long. In 1999, the first China-Japan Workshop on Digestive Endoscopy and Gastroenterology was held at Shenyang for the purpose of improving endoscopic quality in China. At that time, Prof. Hirofumi Niwa, then president of the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society (JGES), Prof. William Chao of Hong Kong, and Prof. Yu Zhonglin of China organized the meeting. Since then, 11 workshops were held until 2018. The workshop scheduled in April 2020 to be held in Hangzhou was postponed due to the coronavirus disease pandemic, and a web-based exchange meeting was held instead in November 2020. JGES has long been in close contact with many Chinese endoscopists through the China-Japan Workshop on Digestive Endoscopy and Gastroenterology. Owing to a long history of exchange between China and Japan, such as these workshops, there is a strong relationship with trust that has been built-up by the senior doctors. I hope that the young doctors who will lead the next generation will continue to deepen their exchanges with Chinese endoscopists and contribute to the development of endoscopic medicine worldwide.