The meeting’s objectives were to organize a network of scientists working on the molecular biology of Schistosome japonicum, to update the status of 5. japonicum research, and to promote collaborations to accelerate 5. japonicum vaccine development. Yide Jia (Ministry of Public Health, P.R. China) stated that S. japonicum was once endemic in I2 provinces in southern China but now is endemic in only four provinces. He noted that the Government of P.R. China decided in September 1994 to fund research towards a 5. japonicum vaccine, and he welcomed enhanced collaboration with foreign scientists. Robert Bergquist [World Health Organization, Tropical Disease Research (TDR)] observed that 5. japonicum was primarily a problem in China and The Philippines, although small foci of infection were present in Indonesia and some other places. He hoped that this meeting would be the first in a series in order to promote a network of 5. japonicum researchers in the Asia region and elsewhere.