The conference was chaired by Chaosheng Zhang (NUI Galway) and opened by James Browne (President of NUI Galway)  followed by speeches of Xiaoyong Yue (Chinese Ambassador)  Shu Tao (Honorary chair of ISEH conference series  Peking University)  Hui Lin (Founder of CPGIS  The Chinese University of Hong Kong)  and Cathal O’Donoghue (Head  Teagasc Rural Economy and Development Programme and Nominated Dean of Arts  Social Science and Celtic Studies at NUI Galway)