The College held the first meeting of the Preparatory Committee for its Alumni Association on Haidian Campus on the afternoon of 29 June.
As the inaugural working meeting during the preparation phase, the session aimed to lay the groundwork for the formal launch of the Alumni Association of College of Comparative Law planned for October. College leadership, senior faculty representatives, current student representatives and all alumni liaisons gathered to discuss the association’s development. The meeting was chaired by Chair of the College Council Gu Yongqiang.
Opening the meeting, Gu reviewed the College's development history—from its early days as an institute, through its time as a research academy, to its current status as a comprehensive school integrating undergraduate and postgraduate education, research and social service. He emphasised that each step in the College's evolution has closely followed national strategic needs. According to Gu, as a key platform in the university's transformation, the College bears the mission of cultivating high-level foreign-related legal talent and promoting the integration of domestic and foreign-related rule of law to provide intellectual support for building a shared future for humanity. Regarding the Alumni Association’s preparation, he proposed the 'Action Guideline': 'support alumni, be supported by alumni, CUPL achieves, CUPLer achieve', stressing an alumni-oriented approach to building a mutually beneficial platform for exchange.
Student Tutor of the College Yang Mingquan then read out the Draft Charter of the Alumni Association of the College of Comparative Law. Alumni and faculty representatives offered active feedback. Among them, 2004 alumnus Yuan Zhijie stressed that breaking down barriers of class year and industry to promote cross-sector exchange is essential, expressing hope that the Association would become a solid bridge linking alumni resources. 2016 alumnus Li Chenghao and 2019 alumna Ye Yuyan both offered detailed suggestions on the charter, including voting procedures, composition rules for the executive council, and introducing an external mentorship system.
Faculty representative Feng Kai noted the vast potential for the Alumni Association, encouraging mutual support among alumni that would in turn benefit the College's development and enhance the discipline's influence. Faculty representative Zhang Tong suggested practical steps such as creating a comprehensive alumni contact directory and building subgroup contact networks to strengthen ties among alumni and between alumni and the College.
Alumni present also fondly recalled their experiences studying in the former Sino-German Law School, Sino-American Law School and the former Institute of Comparative Law, expressing deep gratitude for their teachers and coursemates, and heartfelt hopes for the Alumni Association’s success. Many pledged to actively help organise and connect fellow alumni and fully support the association's establishment and growth.
In his concluding remarks, Gu laid out the next phase of work. First, he emphasised that enhancing alumni belonging should be central, with 'personal growth and success' as the overall goal. Second, he called for advancing alumni work in a more standardised and systematic manner by clarifying institutional roles and building publicity platforms. He also proposed creating an alumni internship and practice mentorship database to support students with career planning, while developing high-level forums with a distinctive comparative law character to integrate academic and practical exchange.
This meeting marked the College's alumni work entering a new stage of standardisation and systematisation. The formal founding of the Alumni Association will further unite alumni at home and abroad, supporting collaborative development with the College in foreign-related legal talent training, academic innovation and alumni career advancement.
