Dear Members of the Scientific Committee and Invited Speakers:

I am happy to report that CIS 2004 was held successfully in Shanghai,
China, from December 16 to 18, 2004. The conference received about
450 papers from 21 countries and areas, and accepted 190 papers from
19 countries and areas for publication in its proceedings. Approximately
200 people registered to attend CIS 2004, which was supported by more
than 10 volunteers from Donghua University. Three invited speakers
from U.S. gave highly motivating keynote lectures which
were well received. We awarded three Student Paper Prizes, two
Honorable Mentions, and three Certificates of Appreciation, which
affected students emotionally. The success of CIS 2004 is measured
by its emphasis on "participation" over "publication", in the
sense that very few speakers did not show up to give their presentations.
This is a striking difference from most conferences held in China.
My sincere thanks to the Co-chairs, Drs. Ji-Huan He and Yuxi Fu, and
the local committee Chair, Dr. Guang Meng, and members of the local
organization committee, for their excellent organization of this 
conference, and to the student volunteers for their long hour work 
and dedications.

A CIS 2004 business meeting was held in the evening of December 17
to decide the time and locations of the next CIS conference. Four
proposals were submitted. A final decision on the time and location 
of the next CIS conference will be made very soon. It is likely
to be organized by Shanghai Jiaotong University in December 2005.

Since the tenure of the CIS Scientific Committee ends with CIS 2004,
the Scientific Committee of CIS 2004 is now dismissed. I
thank you very much for your service to CIS 2004 and hope we can
receive your help and bless for future CIS conference. 

I wish you very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Jun Zhang
CIS'04 Co-Chair
December 23, 2004
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