Dear friends and colleagues,

I am pleased to have the honor to welcome you all to Beijing, the capital of China for the 12th Annual Meeting and 2022 Instructional Course of Cervical Spine Research Society – Asia Pacific (CSRS-AP 2022), March 24th to 26th, 2022.

This is the first time CSRS-AP officially holds its annual meeting in China, one of the most ancient, populated and fast-developing countries in the world. Beijing is a metropolitan city packed with history, culture, creativity, delicacy and excitement. I am sure you will all have a delightful and unforgettable experience during your stay in this charming city. The entire health system has gone through a challenging time since 2020. The building of a community of common health for mankind is becoming more and more important. As a growing problem, the health of the cervical spine concerns more and more people, especiallythose in the younger generation. I believe it is our duty to keep our research moving forward at a fast but steady pace so that we can continuously break through challenging issues concerning the cervical spine. This is why I consider this annual meeting and instructional course a crucial opportunity to stimulate the improvement of cervical spine research. I name the theme of this year’s annual meeting and instructional course as a Chinese character "cheng", meaning “commitment”. The ancient bone-script form of this character depicts two hands holding a person on his knees. I believe this character summarizes the function of the cervical spine, as it carries the weight of our head and ensures its steadiness. I also believe that this character perfectly summarizes the role of this year's annual meeting and instructional course to the cervical spine research discipline:

• Commitment to the improvement of cervical spine surgery.
• Commitment to the debate between brand new insights.
• Commitment to the communication of Asian-Pacific intelligence.

According to the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a high possibility that you may not be able to enter China and attend the event in-person. Therefore, we are currently planning the form of this year's event as hybrid, in which you may participate online while those already based in China may participate in-person. However, we still have hope that you can have the chance to visit our beautiful country and attend our event in-person, so we have an alternative plan to make this meeting as a pure in-person event. Of course, the form may also be 100% online if the situation forces us to do so. I can only ask you all to keep yourselves safe, healthy and well-prepared so that we can have a fruitful meeting despite its final form.

The organizing committee of the 12th CSRS-AP annual meeting and the 2022 CSRS-AP Instructional Course, as well as all Chinese members of CSRS-AP, look forward to welcoming you all to this year's event.

Yours sincerely,