On September 16, 2026, the kick-off meeting for the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) 2026 major strategic consulting project, "Strategic Study on the Development of a World Engineering Education Center," was held at the CAE. The project is led by Academician of CAE Zhu Gaofeng and jointly undertaken by Tsinghua University, the Talent Exchange Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), and Shanghai University of Engineering Science. CAE Academicians Yin Ruiyu, Chai Hongfeng, and Wang Xiaoyun; Qu Zhenyuan, former President of the Chinese Association of Higher Education and former Party Secretary of China Agricultural University; Li Maoguo, Chair of the Board of Supervisors of the China Engineering Education Accreditation Association; and Fan Xinyan, Director-General of the Second Bureau of the CAE, attended the meeting and delivered remarks. Also present were Wang Sunyu, Secretary-General of the ICEE and Professor at the School of Education, Tsinghua University; Qiao Weifeng, Assistant Secretary-General of the ICEE and Associate Professor in Research at the School of Education, Tsinghua University; and Xu Lihui, Assistant Secretary-General of the ICEE. The meeting was chaired by Academician Zhu Gaofeng.

Fan Xinyan introduced the background of the project and its management requirements. He noted that building an education center with global influence is an important decision made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and that China's engineering education is best positioned, in terms of conditions and strength, to make the first breakthrough. He expressed the hope that the project team would remain goal-oriented and strengthen systems thinking, speed up progress while ensuring research quality, and promptly translate research findings into actionable policy recommendations, so as to provide strong support for accelerating the establishment of a world engineering education center.

Wang Sunyu presented the overall research plan on behalf of the project team, covering the research background, objectives, content and methods, and expected outcomes. Wang Sunyu, Li Jiang, Qiao Weifeng, and Li Xuelin then each reported on the detailed research plans for their respective sub-projects. The attending academicians and experts held in-depth discussions on the core issues of the study: the conceptual connotation and main indicators of a world engineering education center, the patterns and driving mechanisms of its shift over time, improving the benefits and efficiency of China's engineering education, and the strategic objectives and implementation pathways for building a world engineering education center. They fully affirmed the project's preliminary preparations and offered valuable comments and suggestions on focusing on limited objectives, highlighting research priorities, strengthening coordination among the sub-projects, reinforcing international comparison and forward-looking assessment, and accelerating the refinement of results and their translation into policy.

Also in attendance were: Ding Yangbing, Deputy Director-General of the Second Bureau of the CAE, Tan Qinghai, Researcher of the Science and Technology Special Projects and Education Division of the Second Bureau, and Yan Ye, Assistant Researcher at the CAE Center for Strategic Consulting; Wang Zhanjun, Vice President of the Chinese Association of Degrees and Graduate Education and Professor at Beijing Institute of Technology; Li Yue, Professor in Research, and Zhao Jinsong, Professor, at Tsinghua University; Lei Qing, Professor at Beihang University; Li Jiang, Professor and former Party Secretary of Shanghai University of Engineering Science, together with Wang Di, Professor in Research, and Liu Zhixin, Professor, of the same university; Li Xuelin, Party Committee Secretary and Director of the Talent Exchange Center of the MIIT, Li Lili, Deputy Head of its Research Division, and Mu Yazhu, Deputy Secretary-General of its Office for Industrial Talent Demand Forecasting; Fu Jie, Chang Xiaohan, and Tao Hongyi, Assistant Research Fellows and ICEE postdoctoral researchers at Tsinghua University; Wang Xiuxiu, Cao Yazhi, and Gao Tingting, Assistant Research Fellows at Shanghai University of Engineering Science; Zhu Pan and Li Chao, ICEE Research Assistants; Doctor Luo Xiaoyan from Beihang University; and Doctor Zhang Dengbo from Beijing Normal University.

The project carries major strategic significance for driving innovation in global engineering education, for addressing together the opportunities and challenges of a new wave of technological revolution and industrial transformation, and for building an international community of engineering education.