With the rapid development of China, the shortage of fossil fuel and mineral resources has seriously affected the sustainable development of China's economy. The new regional geological survey and mapping also urgently need more accurate and practical stratigraphic correlation standards and fossil atlas.

Supported by the special program of basic work of the Ministry of Science and Technology "Palaeozoic stratigraphy and index fossils of China", NIGPAS organized related experts to systematically summarize the standard stratigraphic sections and standard palaeontological fossil categories of each section of Palaeozoic in China. From 2020 to 2021, the series of monographs on the Palaeozoic Stratigraphy and Index Fossils of China (including Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian) with stage as the basic stratigraphic unit has been successively published. The series provides an important standard for regional stratigraphic division and correlation in China and has become an important reference for geological research, exploration and exploitation of oil, gas and mineral resources.