Recently, the 34th International Geological Congress was held in Brisbane, Australia. The theme of this conference was "To provide resources for the future of mankind." More than 5,000 representatives from 110 countries and regions participated. Ministry of Land and Resources Minister Xu Shaoshi led nearly 700 geologists from China to the conference and delivered an important speech at the conference.

At the conference, Minister Xu Shaoshi made a three-point opinion on the mission and responsibilities of the Chinese geologists in conjunction with the theme of the conference. He first proposed that China should increase the exploration of geological and mineral resources and increase the degree of energy and resource protection. China is in the stage of simultaneous rapid industrialization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization. The demand for energy resources continues to rise. As the world’s largest developing country, China’s energy and mineral resources must be based on the domestic market. While implementing a conservation-first strategy and vigorously improving the efficiency of resource utilization, we must increase resources exploration efforts to effectively improve the level of domestic resources. Chinese geologists should devote themselves to the exploration of geological minerals, strengthen geological and scientific research, and strive to innovate theories, techniques, methods, and equipment for geological prospecting, and make due contributions to the provision of resources for sustainable economic and social development. The second is to strengthen exchanges and cooperation and promote global resources to better serve the sustainable development of mankind. The uneven distribution of mineral resources in the world determines that almost no country in the world can rely entirely on its own resources to achieve industrialization. The Chinese government is willing to carry out multi-level, wide-ranging, multi-channel, multi-modal exploration and development of mineral resources and cooperation with various countries in the world, and is willing to learn from the geological science circles in various countries with an open mind, and continues to welcome geology and mining companies from all countries to participate in mineral exploration and development in China. Actively encourage domestic powerful and reputable companies to participate in the exploration and development of mineral resources around the world. In particular, they support Chinese geologists to take the lead in action, and rely on the well-being of all mankind to strengthen international exchanges in geological research, mineral exploration and other fields. Cooperation, together with other countries' counterparts, earnestly shouldered the glorious mission and responsibility of "providing resources for mankind's tomorrow." The third is to closely integrate with the economy, society, and the environment to jointly create a beautiful future for earth science. At present, the development of human society is not only faced with resource constraints, but also faces major issues such as environmental pollution, frequent natural disasters, and global climate change that affect the survival and sustainable development of all humankind. The resolution of these ambitious topics is closely related to the development of earth sciences. It is urgent that geologists all over the world participate in the research and answer. It is also urgent for governments of all countries to pay attention to and promote the development of earth sciences. While pursuing its own development, China is also more willing to work with its counterparts around the world to strengthen bilateral and multilateral exchanges, deepen pragmatic cooperation, and jointly create a new field of earth science research to jointly promote the development and prosperity of Earth science.

In addition, he also made four further proposals on strengthening international cooperation in the field of geology:

(1) Strengthen cooperation in the field of basic earth science research. Including the formation and evolution of the continent, the role of the Earth's deep and shallow geological response, deep-sea ocean surveys, scientific drilling, basic geological map compilation, and polar, lunar, and Mars exploration.

(b) Strengthen cooperation in energy and mineral resources evaluation. Three-dimensional surveys and deep resource potential assessments have been jointly conducted in important metallogenic belts and sedimentary basins in the world, and cooperation has been strengthened in the development and utilization of new energy and low-carbon resources such as natural gas hydrates, shale gas, and geothermal development.

(3) Strengthen cooperation in the field of geological environment and geological disaster research. Including hydrogeology, engineering geology, environmental geology survey and evaluation, earthquakes, volcanoes, large-scale collapse, landslides, mudslides and other geological disasters monitoring and early warning and response to global climate change.

(D) Strengthen cooperation in the field of geological technology development and innovation. Relying on modern technology, we will strengthen cooperation in breakthroughs in geological science research, geological surveys, energy and mineral exploration, and advanced technologies and methods for comprehensive utilization of mineral resources.