Yong CHEN is an expert in energy and environmental engineering technology, was selected for the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Talent Introduction Program in 1995. He has held esteemed positions such as Deputy Director of the National 863 Energy Field Expert Committee, President of the Guangzhou Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Director of the Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Director of the South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

With a long-term focus on research and development in the areas of energy and resource recovery from organic solid waste, as well as recycling technologies for decommissioned renewable energy devices, Chen Yong has leveraged a range of techniques including thermochemical, physical, chemical, and biochemical conversions, and their integrations, to achieve high-value energy and resource recovery from municipal solid waste, livestock manure, and agricultural and forestry residues.

Drawing from his extensive research experience, Yong CHEN has proposed the innovative concepts of "Urban and Rural Mines" and "Urban and Rural Mines Cloud," and established a new model of "Rural Metabolic Co-production Industry." He has also created a "By-product Controlled Clean Production Mechanism" and a "Four-Flow Lifecycle Analysis (4F-LCA) Methodology Based on Energy, Material, Environmental, and Economic Flows," which have been actively explored in tapping into the potential of "Urban Mines" centered on waste materials. These efforts have yielded a series of innovative and applied achievements.

 Furthermore, Yong CHEN has participated in strategic consulting research on energy policies and ecological civilization construction.