Chemical biology is an interdisciplinary field of study that is often defined as "chemistry-initiated biology". It is expected that this emerging research field will open new avenues for comtemporary drug discovery and translational medicine. "Asian Chemical Biology Initiative"has been set up by a group leading scientists from China, Japan, Korea and Singapore to speed up pan-Asia chemical biology research and to promote academic exchanges among Asian countries.

The first executive meeting of Asian Chemical Biology Initiative was held at the Chinese National Compound Library (CNCL), Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica,Shanghai on October 28, 2011, with financial support from Shanghai Municipaity and Pudong Science and Technology Association.

 Dr.WANG Mingwei,Director of National Drug Screening Center, hosted the meeting together with Dr. Motonari Uesugi of Kyoto University. The event attracted more than 100 scientists and students from a number of local universities and research institutes, as well as from Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

This newly established initiative plans to hold annual meetings over the next five years in Hanoi, Manila, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, where top-notch Asian chemical biologists will get together to foster mutually beneficial collaborations and to recruit postgraduate students from various Asian countries. The initiative has received significant funding from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.