Book excerpt: This volume represents an edited selection of papers presented at the International symposium on the geology of tin deposits held in Nanning City in October 1984. It documents a great advance in our knowledge of tin deposits, particularly of the People's Republic of China. Details are presented in English for the first time on the major tin-polymetallic sulphide deposits of Dachang and Gejiu, which bear similarities to the deposits of Tasmania, but are little known to the geological community outside of China. The publication of this volume was sponsored by the United Nations ESCAP Regional Mineral Resources Development Centre (RMRDC), now a Regional Mineral Resources Development Project (RMRDP) within ESCAP. The Centre had previously published a report on the Symposium in Nanning City and the following field trip to the Dachang tin-polymetallic sulphide deposit of Guangxi, entitled "Report on the International Symposium on the Geology of Tin Deposits: Nanning and Dachang, China, 27 October - 8 November 1984". It is my privilege to acknowledge the help provided by Dr. J. F. McDivitt and Dr. H. W. Gebert, co-ordinator of ESCAP-RMRDC.