John Tuzo Wilson and the plate tectonics of China

John Tuzo Wilson was one of the leading figures in the construction of plate tectonics in the 20th century, and his new concepts of "transform faults", oceanic "hotspots", and "Wilson's Cycle" form part of the theoretical foundation of plate tectonics, which is widely known in the communityof geosciences. What is less well known is that Wilson visited China three times, in 1958, 1971 and 1980, and authored two books. In China, he had extensive academic exchanges with his Chinese colleagues, leaving more clearly recognizable footprints in many places. It is worth pointing out that Wilson's second visit to China in 1971 was during the important period of the development of plate tectonics theory in the world. His visit to China as an in-person participant in academic exchanges and ideological collisions, provided strong impetus for the dissemination and development of the new tectonic theory in China. It is worth noting that 1972 was the key year when the development of plate tectonics theory in mainland China happened, with three famous geologists, Yin Zhanxun, Li Chunyu and Fu Chengyi, simultaneously published seminal works, prompting the development of geosciences in mainland China to open up a brand-new stage. This paper briefly reviews Wilson's academic exchanges with research institutions, official engagements, travel experiences and subsequent interactions in China, and evaluates his historical contributions to the development of plate tectonics in China at this particular time.