An international university consortium on earth science, which counts 11 universities from 7 countries as members, was inaugurated on Tuesday in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province.

The university consortium initiated by the Wuhan-based China University of Geosciences (CUG) set up its permanent secretariat on the CUG campus.

Wang Yanxin, president of CUG, said that the International University Consortium on Earth Science (IUCES) will be committed to establishing an annual international forum on earth science education, carrying out Sino-foreign cooperation programs on higher-learning education and scientific research in the field, and sharing educational resources among member institutes.

Its members include University of Hong Kong, Stanford University, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University Pierre and Marie Curie and Lomonosov Moscow State University. This year coincides with the 60th anniversary of the founding of CUG. Endi