On October 12, 2018, a XJTU delegation led by president Wang Shuguo attended the 2018 Annual Presidents Meeting on Building World-Class Universities Annual President Forum. Presidents and delegations of 12 universities from the C9 League, the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), attended the meeting held in the Harbin Institute of Technology, discussing the path for constructing world first-class universities with Chinese characteristics in the new era and the development of higher education. University representatives shared their experience and ideas according to the themes of the forum, namely, “the path and reflection on constructing world first-class universities with Chinese characteristics”, “high-level talentcultivation system for undergraduate education in the new era” and “the role of universities in the national innovation system”. They also put forward a series of new concepts, ideas and measures for Chinese higher education reform in the new era.