From 4 to 8 November 2024, the 12th workshop on physics of strongly interacting systems took place at Huzhou University (China), organized by the Institute of Theoretical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ITP CAS) and the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. The event gathered more than 100 scientists representing JINR (BLTP, FLNR, and MLIT) and scientific centres in China, Germany, Japan, Kazakhstan, Poland, and South Africa.

The comprehensive scientific programme of the meeting included 60 talks covering a wide range of topics:

• superheavy element synthesis in complete fusion reactions;
• producing exotic nuclei in transmission and quasifission reactions;
• a cluster approach to nuclear fission processes;
• decays of highly excited nuclei;
• nucleus structure in modern approaches;
• exotic nuclei decay;
• nuclear matter properties;
• field theory and QCD calculations on a lattice.

According to the organizers, the event aims to join the efforts of theorists and experimenters in nuclear physics to solve the current scientific problems and establish new collaborations. For more than 10 years, the annual workshop on the physics of strongly interacting systems has been a unique platform for the researchers to exchange experiences and network, thus advancing international cooperation, especially between the JINR laboratories and China research teams.