On Nov. 18 and 19, the 2017 International Symposium of Asia Herbaria co-organized by IABG-AD and Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden (Shanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences) was held in Shanghai. More than 110 experts and scholars from 12 countries, including the United States, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, China, attended the symposium. 

The symposium's theme was "communication, cooperation, sharing and development". During the 2-day symposium, apart from the 30 academic reports, there also were academic exchanges and discussions on five topics, i.e. "an overview and history of herbaria", "construction and information management of herbaria", "collection digitization, data analysis and network sharing", "herbarium staff training and exchanges", and "integration and utilization of herbarium resources". In addition, there was an additional session on type specimen training.

This symposium strengthened the exchanges and further substantive cooperation between Asian herbaria, facilitated the common promotion of the steady development of Asian herbaria.