A conference commemorating the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the 1977 protocols additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, organized by the ICRC, in cooperation with the Institute of International Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was held from 19 to 20 May 2017 in Beijing. This conference gathered around 100 participants, including key representatives from Chinese authorities, the Parliament, military institutions, the National Committee for International Humanitarian law, the Red Cross Society of China and the ICRC, as well as experts of international law from think tanks and academic institutions in China and overseas.
The adoption of the two Additional Protocols in 1977 was a milestone in the regulation of armed conflicts, and the rules codified in these two instruments remain as pertinent today as they were four decades ago. This conference covered a range of important international humanitarian law (IHL) issues. Prestigious IHL experts attended this conference, and exchanged their views during the two-day event.