In July 2010, China launched a National Key Basic Research Program on Global Change (“the GC Program” hereafter), aiming to coordinate efforts of a series of relevant projects across the country, advance understanding of the changing global environment and their implications for society, and therefore provide advice for societal and economical sustainable development. By 2013, the GC Program is expected to have achieved considerable original results. In order to present these results to the international communities and compare them with international frontier research, the Science Steering Committee of the GC Program decided to hold “Beijing Symposium on Global Change - 2013” from 23 to 25 September 2013 in Beijing.