On October 18-19, 2014, the 3rd International Forum (ACGS International Forum 2014) and 2014 Annual Meeting of the Joint Association of Deans of Graduate Schools in China, sponsored by Association of Chinese Graduate Schools(ACGS）and hosted by the Graduate School of Nankai University, was held in Tianjin. Colleagues from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and other overseas universities engaged in graduate education and management discussed graduate education with the deans and executive vice deans of the member units of the Association of Chinese Graduate Schools(ACGS）. Mr. Du Zhanyuan, Vice Minister of Ministry of Education of China, Mr. Gao Wen, Vice Director of National Natural Science Foundation of China, Mr. Li Jun, Director General of the Department of Degree Management and Graduate Education of Ministry of Education, Mr. Wang Lisheng, Director General of the Development Center of Degree and Graduate Education of Ministry of Education, Mr. Huang Baoyin, Deputy Director General of the Department of Degree Management and Graduate Education of Ministry of Education, and the responsible comrades of Tianjin Municipal Education Commission and Degree Office attended the conference.

The themes of the international forum were "Quality Assessment Methods of Graduate Education", "Internationalization of Graduate Education and International Cooperation Model" and "Award Policies and Quality Assurance of Graduate Students".

In his speech, Du Zhanyuan pointed out that many countries in the world have taken the development of graduate education as a strategic choice for innovation-driven development and improving international competitiveness, and international competition has become increasingly fierce. Compared with the mission undertaken and the high level of education in the international arena, there is still a considerable gap in China's postgraduate education. "As the top of national education, graduate education should make a scientific judgment on the international trend with a global vision, make an accurate grasp of the development orientation with a historical perspective, maintain a high degree of self-awareness of the mission it has been entrusted with with a global vision, and fully understand the importance and urgency of deepening the reform and improving the quality of graduate education." Du Zhanyuan further introduced that, combined with the situation facing the work of postgraduate education at home and abroad, from the macro aspect, the Ministry of Education has established the reform and development idea of serving the demand and improving quality as the main line, promoting the reform of cultivation mode by classification and building quality assurance and supervision system as the focus, and formulating comprehensive reform measures in four aspects of optimizing the structure and layout, improving the quality assurance system, reforming the investment mechanism, and deepening the opening and cooperation.

This year is the 30th anniversary of the establishment of graduate schools and graduate school system in China's universities, and the 15th year since the establishment of Association of Chinese Graduate Schools(ACGS）in 1999. Du Zhanyuan also put forward the hope of "serving the needs, pursuing excellence and international vision" to the Joint Conference. It is hoped that the institutions of the Joint Conference will take the lead in establishing quality standards for graduate education with Chinese characteristics and international standards, and drive the improvement of the overall quality of graduate education in China with their enthusiasm and creativity in the pursuit of excellence.

In the report of the forum, Gao Wen introduced the latest situation of the allocation of resources for postgraduate training by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). According to the new regulations on the staff fee of research projects in the pipeline, Chinese universities will receive more funds from NSFC for postgraduates and postdocs in the future.

At the forum, Mick Fuller, President of UK Council for Graduate Education, Laura, Convenor of Council of Deans and Directors of Graduate Studies in Australia, and Mick Fuller, President of UK Council for Graduate Education, and Laura Fuller, President of Council of Deans and Directors of Graduate Studies in Australia, were invited to attend the forum. In the forum, Mick Fuller, President of UK Council for Graduate Education, Laura Poole-Warren, Convenor of Council of Deans and Directors of Graduate Studies in Australia, Meng Xiaoli, Dean of Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Anne Anderson, Vice President of Glasgow University, Yang Honggang, President of Chinese School Deans Association, and Gong Ke, President of Nankai University, Yang Bin, Vice President and Dean of Graduate School of Tsinghua University, Feng Xiaogang, Vice President and Dean of Graduate School of Southwest Jiaotong University Mr. Feng Xiaoyun, Vice President and Dean of Graduate School of Southwest Jiaotong University, Mr. Yan Chunhua, Executive Vice President of Graduate School of Peking University, and Mr. Wang Yaguang, Executive Vice President of Graduate School of Shanghai Jiao Tong University delivered keynote speeches on the topics of quality assessment of graduate education, internationalization of graduate education and international cooperation, and policies of graduate awards and grants.

Li Jun pointed out in the report of the annual meeting that China has become a big country in graduate education today, but it is still far from being a strong country in graduate education. The future reform of postgraduate education should be based on "serving the demand and improving the quality", and the main keynote is to deepen the "comprehensive" reform, which is oriented to the national social demand and people's demand. Li Jun put forward "three ones" as the direction of efforts: one core - to focus on students; one key - to strengthen the construction of supervisory team; one focus - to improve the management capacity and level.

At the annual meeting, Wang Lixiang introduced the division of functions and business framework of the degree center, and especially introduced the work vision of the degree center in the areas of professionalization, informatization and internationalization of graduate education evaluation with the theme of the conference. Tang Jiwei, Director of Professional Degree Division, Director of Academic Degree Division, Ren Zenglin, Director of Quality Supervision and Information Division, Xu Weiqing, Director of Degree Management and Postgraduate Education Department, Ministry of Education, made special reports on their fields respectively.

Chen XI, Secretary General of the Joint Committee and Vice President and Dean of Graduate School of Peking University, made the annual work report of the Joint Committee at the annual meeting, stating that the Joint Committee should unite and coalesce the member units to further deepen the reform in the field of postgraduate education, ensure and improve the quality of postgraduate education on the basis of innovative work content and working mechanism; build various platforms between universities and enterprises to carry out diversified activities; follow the international trend of postgraduate education development and maintain the quality of postgraduate education. It will also build various platforms between universities and enterprises and carry out diversified activities; follow the international trends in the development of graduate education, maintain and strengthen exchanges and cooperation with international counterparts; carry out discussions and research on hot issues related to graduate education; and do a good job in supporting graduate education in the western region so that graduate education can better serve the national strategy.

Tao Tao, Executive Vice President of Graduate School of Xiamen University, introduced the attendance of the 8th Global Strategic Leadership Summit on Graduate Education in 2014; Yan Guangcai, Vice President of College of Education Science of East China Normal University, introduced the compilation of China Graduate Education Annual Report 2013 and the selection of China Graduate Education Annual Report 2014. The meeting was attended by all deans.

All deans of the Joint Conference listened to the reports of domestic and foreign experts and leaders of the competent departments, and held a lively discussion in groups. They discussed and shared the development of graduate education, the challenges faced, and the successful experiences of each other. The conference achieved the expected purpose and was a complete success. The meeting confirmed that the 2015 annual meeting would be hosted by Southwest Jiaotong University.

Secretariat of ACGS

October 22nd, 2014