The WEO President and the former Secretary General, Professors Lars Aabakken and Dong Wan Seo, were invited by Professor Long Rong, Head of the Peking University First Hospital (PKUFH) Endoscopy Center, to attend the 2024 PKUFH Digestive Endoscopy Academic Seminar, held on December 27–29 in Beijing, China.
Professor Aabakken delivered a speech at the opening ceremony, recognizing the development of GI endoscopy in China in recent years and looking forward to a stronger connection between China and the rest of the global endoscopy community. Professor Aabakken and Professor Seo gave lectures on ERCP and EUS, sharing their experiences and techniques with the attendees. They also visited the PKUFH Endoscopy Center, observing the live endoscopy demonstration.
The three-day conference brought together 240 distinguished experts and scholars from China and abroad, and featured 16 main and parallel forums, 95 academic lectures, and 36 endoscopy demonstrations. The live demonstration was simultaneously streamed. Onsite training stations were also in place, providing a comprehensive and multidimensional platform for academic exchange.
The conference attracted 657 registered attendees, and the official conference microsite received over 47 000 views, with approximately 7000 participants attending online to watch the endoscopy demonstrations.
During the seminar, Professors Aabakken, Enqiang Linghu, and Long Rong, and other members, held a symposium about the 2025 workplan of the WEO Super Minimally Invasive Interventions (SMII) Committee. Following the WEO vision of advancing promotion and education for high quality endoscopy across all zones of the organization, the SMII Committee will continue to facilitate deeper exchanges and to promote the development of SMII techniques through multiple programs for the benefit of patients worldwide. The SMII Committee also aims to popularize SMII theory worldwide and to contribute to the development of WEO.
Professorial participants in the symposium included:
Lars Aabakken WEO President
Enqiang Linghu Chair, Chinese Society of Digestive Endoscopy; Chair, SMII Committee
Dong Wan Seo Former WEO Secretary General; Co-Chair, ENDO 2024; President, Korean Pancreato-Biliary Association
Ningli Chai Vice-Chair, SMII Committee
Long Rong Director, Endoscopy Center, Peking University First Hospital
Zhining Fan Chief Physician, Digestive Endoscopy, Jiangsu Province Hospital
Mitsuhiro Kida Professor, Endoscopy Center, Kitasato University Hospital
Tomohisa Iwai Professor, Endoscopy Center, Kitasato University Hospital
Chen Du Doctor, Department of Gastroenterology, Chinese PLA General Hospital
The Seminar was held by the Peking University First Hospital, which is the first general hospital founded by the Chinese government, in 1915. As a Chinese pioneer in endoscopic diagnosis and treatment, the PKUFH Endoscopy Center has laid a solid foundation of endoscopic practice. Under the leadership of the current Director, Professor Long Rong, the Endoscopy Center continues to innovate and remains one of the top centers in China. More than 60 000 cases of endoscopic diagnosis and treatment are performed each year at the Center, which covers an area of more than 2500 square meters.
WEO looks forward to stronger and closer collaboration with the Peking University First Hospital and other centers in China, to increase cooperation and innovation in education and development of GI endoscopy worldwide.