From November 8 to 10, 2013, the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Association of Chinese Graduate Schools(ACGS）was held in Chongqing. The theme of the conference was to implement the spirit of the National Conference on Graduate Education and the Opinions of the Ministry of Education, National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Finance on Deepening the Reform of Graduate Education, to strengthen the construction of the quality supervision and guarantee system of graduate training; to realize the changes of the funding system of universities and the transformation of talent cultivation mechanism under the fee-based system of graduate education. Leaders and guests of the conference included Guo Xinli, Deputy Director of Academic Degrees Office of the State Council and Director General of the Department of Degree Management and Graduate Education of the Ministry of Education, Huang Baoyin, Deputy Director General of Academic Degrees Office of the State Council and Deputy Director General of the Department of Degree Management and Graduate Education of the Ministry of Education, Dai Bin, Deputy Director General of the Department of Degree Management and Graduate Education of the Ministry of Education, Li Jun, Director of the Development Center of Degree and Graduate Education of the Ministry of Education, as well as the Department of Key The Director and related personnel of the Division of Construction and the Division of Graduate Student Enrollment of the Department of College Students of the Ministry of Education. The deans and executive vice deans of 56 member institutions of the Joint Council of Deans attended this annual meeting.

The opening ceremony of the annual meeting was presided over by Huang Zongming, Vice President of Chongqing University and Dean of Graduate School, Zhou Xuhong, President of Chongqing University, and Zhou Xu, Director of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission, delivered speeches respectively, and Guo Xinli, Director of the Department of Degree and Graduate Education of the Ministry of Education, delivered a speech and made an important speech.

In his speech, Director Guo Xinli highly praised the great development and achievements of Chinese postgraduate education in the past ten years, and also pointed out that the current postgraduate education cannot fully meet the diversified needs of national economic and social development, and that deepening the reform of postgraduate education and further improving the quality of postgraduate training are the top priorities of postgraduate education at present. He further emphasized that in July 2013, the first national conference on postgraduate education in China in this century was held, at which Comrade Liu Yandong made an important speech. This conference, and a series of documents such as the opinions of three ministries and commissions on deepening graduate education, clearly defined the direction of the reform of graduate education as "one main line, two focus points, four changes and one system", i.e., one main line of "serving demand and improving quality", two focus points of "improving innovation ability of graduate students" and "establishing a quality assurance system for graduate students", and realizing "from scale expansion to quality improvement and from academic-oriented to quality-oriented". From the expansion of scale to the improvement of quality, from academic-oriented to the coordinated development of academic and professional types, from the focus on knowledge to both knowledge and ability, from the focus on students' performance on campus to the focus on career development on campus and after leaving campus", and to build a high-level talent cultivation system. At the same time, we have launched a series of major initiatives such as reforming the selection system, innovating the mode of cultivating talents, strengthening the responsibility and authority mechanism of instructors, establishing a quality assurance system, and strengthening external cooperation. It also provided institutional guarantee for the development of postgraduate education by ensuring national investment, improving the award system and establishing the fee system. Guo Xinli put forward four opinions on promoting the comprehensive reform of postgraduate education, such as ensuring that the ideas of postgraduate education reform take root, blossom and bear fruit; carrying forward the spirit of initiative at the grassroots level; conducting research on the laws of postgraduate development on the basis of strengthening systematic planning and strategic thinking; and playing an important role of non-governmental organizations such as the Joint Council of Deans. Finally, he hoped that the members of the Joint Council of Deans would make concerted efforts to carry out comprehensive reform of graduate education, improve the quality of graduate students, and contribute to the rejuvenation of the nation and the realization of the "Chinese Dream".

Chen XI, Secretary General of the Joint Council of Deans and Vice President and Dean of Graduate School of Peking University, presented the "Report on the Work of the Joint Council of Deans in 2013" to the General Assembly. The report was divided into four parts, including daily work, international exchange, financial situation and future development vision. Secretary General Chen XI fully affirmed the careful guidance of the Ministry of Education and the Academic Degrees Office of the State Council, the hard work of the Secretariat of the Joint Conference, the active cooperation of the deans of graduate schools of all member institutions, and the extensive support from all walks of life, and expressed his heartfelt thanks to them.

At the report stage of the conference, Huang Baoyin, Deputy Director of Academic Degrees Office of the State Council and Deputy Director of the Department of Degree Management and Graduate Education of the Ministry of Education, made a report on "General Considerations on the Construction of Quality Assurance and Supervision System of Degree and Graduate Education", pointing out that 2013 was a significant year in the history of Chinese graduate education, a year of system, reform and turnaround, which opened the curtain for the comprehensive reform of Chinese graduate education. The report deeply and systematically explained to the delegates some general considerations on the construction of quality assurance and supervision system of degree and postgraduate education, which covered self-assessment of education quality, public system of quality report, long-term feedback system of employment development, process management, curriculum improvement, comprehensive enhancement and improvement of supervisor system and academic ethics, advocating the "refined" cultivation method.

Mr. Gao Hong, Vice President of Graduate School of Tsinghua University, Mr. Lin Jiaping, Executive Vice President of Graduate School of East China University of Science and Technology, Mr. Liu Guoxiang, Executive Vice President of Graduate School of Southwest Jiaotong University, Mr. Zhang Yunhuai, Vice President of Graduate School of Chongqing University, Mr. Zhang Jili, Vice President of Graduate School of Dalian University of Technology, Mr. Chen Ximeng, Executive Vice President of Graduate School of Lanzhou University, Mr. Chen Yugang, Vice President of Graduate School of Fudan University, etc. introduced the challenges faced by postgraduate education nowadays and the related initiatives and activities of their institutions. They also put forward many constructive insights on how to promote the comprehensive reform of postgraduate education. Li Jun, director of the Development Center for Academic Degrees and Postgraduate Education of the Ministry of Education, was invited to give a report on "Quality Assurance and Supervision" to the deans, introducing the current work considerations of the center and providing good ideas and methods for the establishment of quality supervision and assurance system for postgraduates.

The General Assembly read out the list of outgoing deans and executive vice deans of graduate schools this year, and all members of the Joint Committee expressed their heartfelt gratitude and respect to the outgoing deans who had contributed to the development of the Joint Committee of Deans of Graduate Schools of China and the cause of graduate education in China. Comrade Liao Xiaoling, former director of the Secretariat of the Joint Council and director of the Admissions Office of Peking University Graduate School, delivered a speech as the outgoing representative, reviewing the establishment, growth and expansion of the Joint Council in the past 14 years, sharing with everyone those meaningful years and wishing the Joint Council to develop better and better and play an increasingly important role in the development of China's graduate education.

In the group discussion of the meeting, the deans of the graduate schools had a lively discussion on the important issues such as the construction of the quality supervision and guarantee system of graduate training, doing a good job of awarding and supporting, promoting the reform of the mechanism of graduate training, and how the joint association of graduate schools and deans can play a better role in the reform and development of graduate education in China under the new situation. They also put forward their opinions and suggestions on further liberalizing the quota of exempted students to improve the quality of student source and strengthening the ability of institutions to coordinate the scholarship funds.

The closing ceremony of the annual meeting was chaired by Secretary General Chen XI. Tao Tao, Executive Vice President of Graduate School of Xiamen University, and Chen Heng, Executive Vice President of Graduate School of Harbin Engineering University, introduced their participation in the training for new deans in the United States and the Global Graduate Education Summit organized by the American Council of Graduate Schools in Hungary, respectively. Li Zhibin, Executive Vice President of the Graduate School of East China Normal University, introduced the situation related to the compilation of the Annual Report on Graduate Education in China. In the summary of the meeting, Secretary General Chen XI affirmed that this meeting responded to the requirements of "correcting the four winds" and "taking the mass route", and reflected the spirit of seeking truth from facts. He pointed out that 2013 is an extraordinary year in the history of Chinese postgraduate education, the curtain of comprehensive reform of Chinese postgraduate education has been opened, and Chinese postgraduate education has entered an era of comprehensive deepening reform. He encouraged the deans present to form a consensus with more enthusiasm, deepen the reform and promote the development and improvement of graduate education, and believed that through the joint efforts of all of us, the success of the comprehensive reform of graduate education would be achieved. The meeting achieved the expected purpose and was a complete success. The meeting determined that the 2014 annual meeting will be hosted by Nankai University, the rotating presidency.

Secretariat of ACGS

November 11th, 2013