The working meeting of the presidents of the presidential units of the Association of Chinese Graduate Schools(ACGS） was held in Wuhan University on April 15, 2016, attended by the new presidents of the presidential units generated at the annual meeting in 2015: Chen Chuanfu, dean of the Graduate School of Wuhan University, Hu Xiangpei, executive vice president of the Graduate School of Dalian University of Technology, Tang Yuguang, executive vice president of the Graduate School of East China Normal University, Beijing University Graduate School Gong Qihuang, Executive Vice President of the Graduate School of Peking University, and Wu Xiaoquan, Executive Vice President of the Graduate School of Renmin University of China, who was newly added as the President of the presidential unit according to the opinion of the 2015 annual meeting. Wang Tianbing, Vice President of the Graduate School of Peking University, Wang Xiaoyue, Director of the Secretariat of the Joint Conference, Li Haisheng, Deputy Director of the Degree Office of the Graduate School of East China Normal University, Song Chaoyang and Wang Jianbo, Vice Presidents of the Graduate School of Wuhan University, also attended the meeting. Vice President Shu Hongbing of Wuhan University attended the opening ceremony of the conference and delivered a speech.

The opening ceremony of the meeting was presided over by Chen Chuanfu, Dean of Graduate School of Wuhan University, the annual rotating chairman. Shu Hongbing, Vice President of Wuhan University, welcomed the participants on behalf of Wuhan University and positively expressed the good work of the current chairmanship unit and this year's rotating chairmanship.

The working discussion session was chaired by Gong Qihuang, Executive Vice President of the Graduate School of Peking University. Wang Tianbing, Vice Dean of Graduate School of Peking University, Chen Chuanfu, Dean of Graduate School of Wuhan University, and Li Haisheng, Deputy Director of Degree Office of Graduate School of East China Normal University, reported to the participants about the considerations related to the future development of the Joint Conference and the work plan for 2016, the preliminary program of the 2016 Annual Conference, the progress of the preparation of the 2015 edition of the Annual Report on Graduate Education in China and the plan of the selection of topics for the 2016 edition, etc.

Focusing on the future development direction of the Joint Committee, the participants discussed the work content and working mechanism of the Joint Committee, the main annual meetings and international exchange activities, membership management and payment of membership fees, the selection of topics for the Annual Report on China Graduate Education (2016), the launch of the declaration of the "Research Topics on Graduate Education of the Joint Committee of Deans" and the establishment of the "Outstanding Dean Award". The main work of 2016 and its responsible units were determined, which laid the foundation for the smooth development of all work.

Asecretariat of Association of Chinese Graduate Schools

April 18, 2016