The Third C9 League Graduate Education Conference, hosted by Nanjing University and organized by Zhengzhou University, was held at Zhengzhou University from July 12 to 13. The theme of the conference was "Empowering Graduate Education with AI, Advancing the Cultivation of Outstanding Talents". Bie Ronghai, Director of the Henan Provincial Department of Education; Li Peng, President of Zhengzhou University; and Zhou Zhihua, Vice President of Nanjing University attended the conference and delivered speeches. The conference was chaired by Hu Shaowei, Vice President and Dean of the Graduate School of Zhengzhou University.

Nearly 300 leaders and educators in graduate education from the Henan Provincial Department of Education, C9 League graduate schools, and Zhengzhou University participated in the conference. They focused on AI technology empowerment, concentrated on the cultivation of talents for national strategic needs, and deepened cooperation in collaborative innovation, collectively devising strategies for the development of top innovative talents and drawing a new blueprint for graduate education that keeps pace with the times.

In his speech, Bie Ronghai pointed out that the C9 League, as a coalition of top universities in China, plays a crucial role in national scientific progress, talent cultivation, and innovative development. This conference is a significant event for the C9 League's graduate education, as well as for the development of higher education in Zhengzhou University and Henan. It has established a long-term communication and learning platform between C9 universities and Henan universities. He looked forward to valuable suggestions from leaders and experts, and for universities like Zhengzhou University in Henan to learn from the advanced experiences of C9 universities, adding new momentum to Henan's accelerated development into a strong educational and graduate education province.

Li Peng expressed gratitude towards the Henan Provincial Department of Education and the C9 League, and welcomed the leaders and experts to Zhengzhou University. She noted that Zhengzhou University has a deep friendship and close cooperation with the C9 universities. She looked forward that this conference would provide an opportunity to explore the "C9+1" cooperation model in graduate education, talent cultivation, faculty sharing and mutual recruitment, major platform construction, and collaborative project research, leading to Zhengzhou University's better development, and promoting high-quality development of graduate education, thus making greater contributions to the construction of a strong nation in education.

Zhou Zhihua warmly welcomed the leaders and expert colleagues participating in this conference. He pointed out that as the pinnacle of the higher education system, graduate education is the core link connecting education, science, and talent strategies, and the cultivation of graduate students' innovative capabilities is directly related to the effectiveness of Chinese path to modernization. In recent years, NJU has focused on "empowering graduate education with AI", promoting a comprehensive transformation of graduate education. Additionally, NJU has built a new pattern of top-notch innovative talent cultivation through measures. He hoped that this conference could be a platform for extensive exchange and mutual learning among universities, consolidating the wisdom and efforts of top universities, and exploring new paths for graduate education.

Representatives from the graduate schools of the C9 League universities each presented reports on their work in graduate education, introducing measures and achievements in reform and innovation of graduate education in the era of artificial intelligence, focusing on AI empowerment in graduate education, sharing new explorations and mechanisms in school management practice, and proposing thoughts and visions for the reform and development of graduate education. 

The conference concluded in a lively atmosphere. Through in-depth discussions, participants achieved an important consensus on promoting the deep integration of AI and graduate education, laying a solid foundation for constructing a new ecosystem of AI-enabled graduate education. Looking forward, the universities will continue to strengthen cooperation and exchanges, and work together to promote the high-quality and outstanding development of graduate education.