On August 28 -30, “The Fifth International Conference on Yak” hosted by the Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences of CAAS was held in Lanzhou of Gansu province, the theme of this conference was " sustainable development of yak husbandry and industry.

The conference was held in Gansu International Convention and Exhibition Center. The main leaders and experts attended the conference are as follows: The vice President of the Chinese academy of agricultural sciences named Tang Huajun, the Director of Gansu province Science and technology Department named Li Wenqing, the Vice Director of International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development named Dr. Eklabya Sharma, the Chairman of Germany Yak-Camel Foundation named Dr. Horst Eugen Geilhausen, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Kyrgyzstan of Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) named Karl Goeppert, The Director of Department of International Cooperation of CAAS named Zhang Lubiao, and the vice-president of Northwest University for Nationalities named He Ye.

Tang Huajun, the secretary vice of the Deputy party and the President of the Chinese academy of agricultural sciences, delivered a warm speech. He mentioned that the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences is the largest and most powerful national agricultural research institutions in China with most complete disciplines. Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences recently launched the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Project, the yak innovative team and other research teams belonging to Lanzhou Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary including were selected for the Science and Technology Innovation Project. The yak research is in a leading position in the world; the new yak breed named "Datong yak" won the national Science and Technology progress Award in 2007. At present, the sustainable development of yak industry is currently facing enormous challenges; the solutions to these problems must rely on science and technology. He sincerely hoped that the scientists could work closely in efforts to solve the key technical problems in yak industry, and work together to achieve sustainable development of the world yak industry.
Li Wenqing, the Director of Gansu province Science and technology Department noted that Gannan pastoral areas are the important natural ecological barrier of upstream of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River region of China and also an important conservation land in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Grassland resources is the basis for the development of animal husbandry, and yak as a major livestock in Gannan pastoral area, is the material basis of the local Tibetan people. He hoped that this international conference would be an opportunity to continue to solve practical problems in yak production and propose specific measures for industrial development, and promote the healthy development of yak industry.
Yang Zhiqiang, the director of Lanzhou Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary of CAAS, gave a speech on behalf of the organizers. He said that yak is the special cattle breed in alpine regions, is a mammal living in the highest elevation in the world. Yaks are mainly scattered in China Tibetan Plateau regions with altitude of 3000 meters above, which is called "boat of the plateau", can adapt to alpine ecological conditions. In recent years, with the deteriorating living environment of yak, it become endangered wild species, domesticated yak breed degrade gradually, and the lack of modern techniques in yak management. Lanzhou Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary has been engaged in animal husbandry and veterinary research for a long time, many generations of the scientists rooted in the Qinghai-Tibet successfully bred the first artificial new variety in the world, named "Datong yak", which was widely promoted in Chinese yak areas, resulted in significant economic and social benefits. Currently, scientists of Lanzhou Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary of CAAS are seeking relevant units at home and abroad to carry out extensive cooperation in scientific research of yak, to accelerate the development and innovation in yak industry.

Dr. Eklabya Sharma, the Vice Director of International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, pointed out that herders and pastures at high altitudes are facing a severe natural situation, yak researchers of different countries should work together to take responsibility together to improve this situation. Mr. Karl Goeppert, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Kyrgyzstan of Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), on behalf of the Foundation introduced the current situation in Kyrgyzstan yak breeding, hoping to rely on technological development of yak breeding to promote the development of domestic animal husbandry and improve the income level of local people.
Yan Ping, the Vice Director of Lanzhou Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary of CAAS and the chairman of the 5th International conference on Yak, presided over the opening ceremony. Experts and scholars from around the world, entrepreneurs around the yak industry had warm discussions on sustainable development, environment and climate change, genetics and breeding, yak grazing management system, reproductive physiology and other topics. During the conference, national experts and scholars had a trip to the Datong Yak Breeding Farm of Qinghai Province, toured the first artificial yak breed in the world named “Datong yak."
The conference was supported by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Germany Yak Camel Foundation, and Northwest University for Nationalities, Lanzhou University, Gansu Agricultural University, Treasure of Plateau Yak Dairy Limited Company, and Gansu Tianma Ecology Technology Limited Company, Datong Yak Breeding Farm.

More than 200 experts, scholars and entrepreneurs from China, Germany, the United States, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Switzerland, and Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan attended the conference.