On behalf of the European Society for Biomaterials and of the Chinese Committee for Biomaterials, we are delighted to invite you to participate at the 4th China-Europe Symposium on Biomaterials in Regenerative Medicine (CESB2013), which will be held in Sorrento Italy, on July 1-4, 2013. This biennial symposium has previously been held on three occasions since its establishment in 2006. Biomaterials science and engineering are going to play a key role in addressing future societal challenges, with the health of an aging population becoming an issue of primary importance. The endowment of biomaterials with biological structure and biological function, thereby regenerating or reconstructing a lost or seriously diseased tissue or organ, has been the priority of biomaterials science and engineering throughout this century, and will undoubtedly lead to a significant breakthrough. This breakthrough will come from the integration of materials science with modern biology and biological technology – in particular, with molecular biology, tissue engineering, stem cell technology and related disciplines. These areas of endeavour, and pioneering concepts which integrate materials science and pre-clinical validation will be discussed. The major achievement of our Societies to date has been the publication of the EC FP7 Call NMP.2013.2.2-2 Biomaterials: Imaging and rapid precise prototyping technology for custom made scaffolds, a coordinated call with China. The proposals submitted in response to this call are in the final stage of evaluation, and this symposium will therefore provide the appropriate opportunity both to present the successful proposals and to define the strategy for the next call. The symposium will reflect the developmental trend and the progress on the frontier research of biomaterials science and engineering, including progress in clinical research and its applications, particularly in China and Europe. This will undoubtedly further promote and stimulate the growth of Chinese-European communities in Biomaterials Science.