On March 23, the first meeting of the first Council of the Chinese Society of Engineers (CSE) was held in Beijing. Wan Gang, Vice Chairman of the CPPCC and President of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), and Zhang Yuzhuo, Vice President (in charge of daily work) and First Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of CAST attended and delivered speeches at the meeting. The meeting was presided over by Luo Hui, Director-General of the Department of International Affairs of CAST, and He Huawu, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE).

Wan Gang stressed that CSE shall assume the responsibilities of addressing the top priorities of the country by uniting and leading engineers, cultivating excellent engineers, promoting the integrated development of technology and economy, and promoting communication among the global engineering community, so as to build a community of career, values and destiny for engineers with strong attraction and cohesion.

According to Zhang Yuzhuo's concluding remarks, CSE should strengthen its foundation and its role in uniting and guiding the engineers, carry forward the rigorous and pragmatic work style of the engineering community, and focus on cultivating outstanding engineers. In addition, it shall promote bilateral exchanges and benign multilateral cooperation in engineering competency building and strive to achieve new breakthroughs in the international mutual recognition of engineering qualifications.

The meeting deliberated and adopted the Constitutions of the Chinese Society of Engineers and elected its leading bodies and standing council units. Besides, it also established nine working committees covering fields such as engineering education, engineering competency assessment and continuing professional development through election. The term of office of the CSE’s Council is three years. Its Secretariat is located at the CAST Center for Professional Training and Services.