The 1st, 2nd and 3rd International Conference on Photoresponsive Organics and Polymers (ICPOP) were held in 2001 (Cheju Island, Korea), 2004 (Pusan, Korea) and 2006 (Val Thorens, France), respectively. The scope of ICPOP includes synthesis, characterization, theory and applications of organic and polymeric materials in the area of photonics and electronics. The 4th ICPOP will be jointly organized by Zhenjiang University, Beijing Institute of Technology and Wuhan University and held on 17–20 October 2008 in Hangzhou, China, under the sponsorship of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Ministry of Science & Technology of China. This meeting will focus on the latest development in the area of photonic and optical materials and devices. It will serve as a platform for the scientific information exchange between the researchers from different countries.