The 8th International West Lake Symposium – Laser Plasma Interactions (IWLS-LPI 2014) will be held at Hangzhou, China, April 21-25, 2014. IWLS-LPI 2014 will be hosted by the Institute for Fusion Theory and Simulation (IFTS), Zhejiang University. The mission of IFTS, established in 2006, is to carry out cutting-edge research in fusion, space, and other plasma physics. Significant advances have recently been made in the high-intensity short-pulse laser technology. The availability of tera- and peta-watt lasers has opened up the relativistic laser-plasma interaction regime and led to many new concepts and promising applications. The upcoming ten-petawatt lasers would certainly further enhance the interest in laser-plasma interactions. Numerical simulation of the extreme dynamics involved is also challenging.