During Sept. 16 to 19, 1997, the 1st international symposium on soil erosion and dry-land faming was successfully held in Xi’an, Shaanxi , under the co-sponsorship of ISWC and USDA-USDA-National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory, over 170 scholars and experts from more than 20 countries, such as US, Australia, Germany, Israel, Russia and Japan, and 17 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions attended the symposium to address issues concerning soil erosion and dry-land farming. They gathered together to exchange research findings concerning soil and water conservation in hemi-arid areas and dry-land farming, explore effective approaches for international cooperation, thus to speed up research in soil erosion and dry-land farming.

At the symposium, more than 200 papers have been submitted, revolving the following themes, such as “wind & water erosion process and its forecast”, “regional soil erosion environment and basic rules for soil conservation”, “integrated small watershed management and rural economic development”, “sustainable resource utilization and dry-land agriculture system”, “the application of remote sensing GIS and GPS　in water conservation and dry-land farming”, and so on. During the session, there were also seminars and discussions. Before and after the symposium, field trips were arranged for scholars and experts to  study the complex topography, terrain on loess Plateau and soil erosion in the status quo in north part of Shaanxi province, Wangdonggou Small watershed of Changwu County and Zhifanggou small watershed of Ansai County in particular.

This symposium has achieved significant impart in size and in effect.