The 2007 Annual Meeting of the Association of Chinese Graduate Schools(ACGS）was held in Chengdu from Nov. 2 to 4, 2007. The meeting was attended by Comrade Guo Xinli and Comrade Liang Guoxiong, deputy directors of the Academic Degrees Office of the State Council, Comrade Wang Lisheng, deputy director of the Development Center for Academic Degrees and Postgraduate Education of the Ministry of Education, Comrade Chen Ruiwu, director of the Postgraduate Admissions Division of the Department of Students of the Ministry of Education, and relevant directors of the Academic Degrees Office of the State Council, and the deans or executive vice deans of 57 graduate schools nationwide. The deputy director of Sichuan Provincial Department of Education and the president of Sichuan University also attended the conference and expressed their congratulations.

The conference was closely focused on the theme of "improving the quality of postgraduate training". The conference firstly listened to the report of Comrade Guo Xinli, Deputy Director of Academic Degrees Office of the State Council on "Raising the Quality of Postgraduate Education to a New Level", the report of Deputy Director Liang Guoxiong on "Several Opinions on the Current Reform of Postgraduate Cultivation Mechanism" and the report of the Deputy Director Chen Ruimu of the Department of Students of the Ministry of Education on "Improving the Quality of Postgraduate Education". The meeting also arranged for the deans of graduate schools of Tsinghua University, University of Science and Technology of China, Shanghai Jiaotong University, East China Normal University, Zhejiang University, Northwestern Polytechnic University and Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences to give a presentation on the initiatives of their graduate schools in ensuring the quality of graduate education. They also exchanged their practices and some thoughts and suggestions in the work of their respective schools in the context of the "Doctoral Quality Survey" currently being carried out nationwide. In the closing ceremony, four delegations of deans (visiting the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, etc.) sent by the Joint Committee in the past year made their reports, and each delegation gave their suggestions and opinions on improving the quality of graduate education in the context of the situation in China. The meeting also agreed that the Graduate School of Harbin Engineering University, the Graduate School of Haihai University and the Graduate School of Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University should become full members of the Joint Committee according to the "Regulations of the Association of Chinese Graduate Schools(ACGS）"; it also agreed to the proposal of the renewal of the Graduate School of the President of the Joint Committee, and the new President of the President will start to work and perform his duties in 2008. To carry out the work and fulfill the responsibilities.

The conference was held in a tight schedule and with a heavy task, all the deans present cherished the opportunity of discussion, actively communicated and expressed their views freely, and the conference achieved the expected purpose. Comrade Guo Xinli, deputy director of the Academic Degrees Office of the State Council, gave a high affirmation to the conference and put forward higher hopes and suggestions for the future work of the Joint Conference.

Asecretariat of ACGS

　　　　　November 7th, 2007