A few months after the opening of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in 1973, Prof. Reimar Lust, President of the Max Planck Society (MPS), was invited to visit the embassy in its original location in Wachtberg-Niederbachem. The invitation followed a sounding by Prof. Hans Leussink, former Federal Science Minister, on the occasion of his visit with Chinese Premier, Zhou Enlai, which resulted in this first, indirect contact between the MPS and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). China was still in the middle of the '"Cultural Revolution." At that time the Academy had been merged with the State Science and Technology Commission and the Chinese Association for Science and Technology. Scientific research had come to an almost complete standstill since 1966. At the time, an article by Prof. Zhou Peiyuan, who was Vice President of the Academy, President of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, and President of Peking University, appeared in a Beijing newspaper. In stressing the importance of basic research, Prof. Zhou's article was an appeal that reflected the Chinese scientists' wish to return to their normal research activities, and encouraged them to do so.
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