From October 17 to 18, 2020, the 3^rd Session of the 12^th Council of Palaeontological Society of China (PSC) was held in Hezheng County, Gansu Province, China with the Symposium on Protection and Development of Hezheng Ancient Animal Fossils. About 100 council members and experts attended the session, they came from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, CAS, the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, CAS, the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Peking University, Nanjing University, Northwest University, Jilin University, Lanzhou University, Sun Yat-sen University, the China University of Geosciences(Beijing), China University of Geosciences(Wuhan), Shenyang Normal University and etc. Other local leaders from Hezheng County, Linxia City also attended the council session.

The opening ceremony of the council meeting 

Zhan Renbin, the President of PSC expressed his gratitude to the government of Linxia Prefecture and Hezheng County for their strong support to fossil conservation and the council meeting, and highly appreciated the efforts made by Hezheng as the "Fossil Kingdom" in paleontological investigation and science popularization. He pointed out that the development of society in the new era has put forward a more urgent demand for investigation and dissemination of paleontology. The PSC has the responsibility to conform to the requirements of the times and play a greater role in investigation and dissemination and international communication. Zhan also briefly summarized the highlights of the Society's work in 2019 and offered an outlook on the future work.

Zhan Renbin, the President of PSC 

Yang Qun, the Supervisor-in-Chief of PSC, emphasized the importance of Hezheng fossils in research and science popularization, and also addressed highly of the recent work of PSC.

Yang Qun, the Supervisor-in-Chief of PSC 

The main topics of the council were summarizing of the work of PSC in 2019-2020, and discussing the academic activities and international exchanges in 2020-2021, as well as focusing on the preparation of the 30^th Annual Conference in 2021. In the  council meeting, several issues were reported, including the revision of the Regulations of PSC; the explanation on the formulation of the Rules of PSC CCP Committee and the Study System of the PSC Council CCP Committee; the report of 2020 training course for leaders of party organizations of the national societies of the China Association for Science and Technology; the report on the work of the Asian Palaeontological Association and the Acta Palaeontologica Sinica; the report on the work summary of the PSC for 2019-2020 and the work plan for 2021, the selection of the top 10 National Progresses in Paleontology in 2019, and the poverty alleviation work of PSC in Guangxi; the report on the Science and Technology Award of PSC; and the report on the society's finance.

The Vice-President Deng Tao conveyed the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech at the national conference for sciences. The Vice-President Hua Hong and Deputy Secretary Zhang Zhifei reported on the preliminary preparations for the 30th Annual Academic Conference of PSC in 2021. The Council reviewed and discussed the five organizations which applied for the National Popular Science Bases of PSC in 2020, and voted to agree them, including Inner Mongolia Museum of Natural History, Xiangxi UNESCO Global Geopark, Shandong Laiyang Cretaceous National Geological Park and Hezheng Paleozoological Museum.

The head of each PSC branch also reported on the recent works and future plans. President Zhan Renbin affirmed the activities of the branches and hoped that the cooperation with the provincial paleontological societies would be strengthened and increased.

During the meeting, several conferences were held, including 4^th Session of the 12^th Council of PSC, 4^th Session of the 1^st Board of Supervisors, the party session of PSC Functional CCP Committee and Executive Office CCP Committee, and the editorial board meeting of Acta Palaeontologica Sinica.

The council members also visited the Hezheng Paleozoological Museum and the fossil site, and held the awarding ceremony of Hezheng Paleozoological Museum as the National Popular Science Bases.

Group photo of the participants