On April 29, the conference on implementing President Xi Jinping’s important Decree of “vigorously promoting agricultural mechanization and intelligence” and commemorating the 60th Anniversary of Chairman Mao Zedong’s famous assertion “the fundamental way to develop agriculture lies in mechanization” were held in Jiangsu University （JSU）. The conference was sponsored by Chinese Society for Agricultural Machinery, Chinese Association for Agricultural Machinery and Industry, Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering, China Agricultural Mechanization Association, China Agricultural Machinery Distribution Association, and co-sponsored by Jiangsu University, China Agricultural University and Chinese Academy of Agricultural Mechanization Sciences.

On the morning of the 29^th, the conference was officially held in the auditorium of our university. Nearly 800 participants attended the meeting, including leaders of relevant ministries and commissions, leaders of provincial and municipal governments, members of five major societies/associations, leaders and representatives of other universities and institutions at home and abroad, representatives of authoritative media at levels of the state, provinces and municipalities, all the leaders and the standing committees of the Party committee of Jiangsu University, leaders of related functional departments and schools, and representatives of teachers and students. The opening ceremony was presided over by Wang Bo, chairman of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Machinery. At the opening ceremony, speeches were delivered by Zhang Baowen, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress, Yang Yue, Chairman of the Standing Committee of Jiangsu Provincial Committee, Luo Xiwen, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Qian Minghua, Vice Inspector of the Equipment Division of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Zuo Jia, Vice Director of the Second Bureau of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Li Anning, Vice Director of the Department of Agricultural Mechanization Management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. After the opening ceremony was the awarding ceremony of “Outstanding Persons on the 60^th Anniversary of the Development of Agricultural Mechanization in China”. Sixty outstanding persons who have made outstanding contributions were commended, among whom were Yuan Shouqi, Secretary of the Party Committee of our university, and Mao Hanping, Executive Director of the Department of Agricultural Equipment.

Liu Xian, President of Chinese Association of Agricultural Mechanization, presided over the conference, and thematic reports concerning promoting agricultural mechanization and transformation and upgrading of agricultural machinery and equipment industry were delivered respectively by Wang Maohua, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Yan Xiaohong, President of Jiangsu University, Cai Jibo, Vice Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice Chairman of YTO Group Corporation, Fang Xianfa, Vice President of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Mechanization Sciences, Guo Baosong, Vice Director of Heilongjiang Farms and Land Reclamation administration, and Wang Haibin, Director of Jiangsu Liyang Haibin Agricultural Machinery Specialized Cooperative Society.

On the afternoon of the 29^th, the forum on “Accelerating the Transformation and Upgrading of Agricultural Mechanization and Agricultural Machinery Equipment Industry” was held in the auditorium, chaired by Mao Hong, President of China Agricultural Machinery Distribution Association. Brilliant academic reports were delivered by Li Anning, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Mechanization Management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Qian Minghua, deputy inspector of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Luo Xiwen, Chen Xuegeng and Zhao Chunjiang, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Yang Minli, director of the Development Research Center of China Agricultural Mechanization of China Agricultural University, and Mao Hanping, executive director of the Agricultural Equipment Department of our University, revolving respectively around the spirit of related national documents, technological innovation of agricultural machinery, intelligent agricultural machinery equipment, transformation and upgrading of agricultural mechanization, development of agricultural equipment, and industrial transformation and upgrading.

On the afternoon of the 29^th, the forum of Sino-Foreign university presidents was also held in the lecture hall of our university library, chaired by Zhao Yutao, Vice president of our university. Mei Qiang, Vice President of JSU, Prof. Peter Wright of Cornell University, Gong Yuanshi, Vice President of China Agricultural University, and Shylock, Vice President of Hungarian Debrecen University (Hungry) made reports on international cooperation, transformation and upgrading of agricultural engineering, construction and development of agricultural engineering and research of agricultural machinery. In addition, under the chairmanship of Yang Zhou, Vice President of South China Agricultural University, 10 guests were interviewed, including Ying Yibin from Zhejiang University, Xu Hui from Hohai University, and Professor Jane Rickson from Cranfield University in UK, on subjects such as discipline construction under the background of “Double First-Class” initiative, talent training in agricultural engineering, and the role of international alliances in personnel training and cooperative research. During the forum, the lunch ceremony of the International University Consortium of Agricultural Engineering was also held, which was co-sponsored by Jiangsu University and 32 universities from 17 countries and regions, such as the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Japan, Russia and so on.