Blueprint-led, Action-oriented | 2026 Xiehe Education Center Principal Retreat Convenes Successfully

From August 21 to 23, the 2026 Xiehe Education Center Principal Retreat was successfully held. Centered on the theme “Strategic Plan Driving a New Round of High-Quality Development”, a total of around 80 participants, including all Chinese and expatriate school-level leaders, directors of various departments and decision-making body leaders of Xiehe Education Center, gathered together. They thoroughly studied and understood the core connotations and spirit of the Xiehe Education Strategic Development Plan Outline (2026-2030) (hereinafter referred to as “Xiehe Five-Year Plan“), discussed key development issues of Xiehe Education, and laid a solid foundation for the new academic year of each SUIS campus under the guidance of the outline.

01 Gathering in Puyuan Ancient Town · Building Cohesion through Team-building

On August 21, participants arrived one after another at the conference hotel in Jiaxing Puyuan Fashion Ancient Town. The preparation committee were to complete preparations for the following two-day meeting. Other participants engaged in informal exchanges; in a relaxed atmosphere, they exchanged work updates and shared life stories to deepen mutual understanding and strengthen team cohesion.

02 In-depth Keynote Presentations · Setting Core Development Priorities

On the morning of August 22, the plenary session officially opened, hosted by Ms Jenny Chen Jieni, Deputy Director of the School Management Department. The session delivered a systematic interpretation of the “Xiehe Five-Year Plan”.

Ms Jennier Jin Huipin, Acting Vice Chairperson of Xiehe Education Center, delivered a keynote report introducing the formulation process of the “Xiehe Five-Year Plan”. The plenary session systematically explained the guiding ideology, vision, mission and development goals with nine main tasks and relevant 27 projects of the plan, and put forward guiding suggestions and requirements on how to design the five-year plan for the SUIS campuses.

General Principal Ms Maxine Lu Huiwen gave a detailed interpretation of four special initiatives in the “Xiehe Five-Year Plan” with focus on primary and secondary education: the “Fertile Soil” Initiative, the “Peak” Initiative, the “Connected Pathways” Initiative and the “Leading Talent” Initiative. She also clarified the requirements of operations and management to guarantee plan implementation.

03 Thematic Exchanges and Campus Case Sharing · Decoding Plan Practices with Forward-looking Focus

The thematic exchanges of the conference focused on two cutting-edge priority areas in the outline, and taking SUIS Qingpu as a sample to demonstrate the design of school-level plan.

Mr Li Guoxing, Director of the Education Digital Transformation Working Group of Xiehe Education Center, presented his speech on “Reconstructing Education Ecosystem: From Tool Adoption to a Fundamental Shift in Mindset”. He conducted an in-depth analysis of application dimensions, real-world scenarios and practical paths for AI in school teaching and learning.

Mr Alex Shen Jianjun, Supervising Principal of Xiehe Education Center, shared his speech of “Early-Stage Report on SUIS High School Curriculum Research”. Based on two months of field research across SUIS high schools, he sorted out curriculum characteristics of each campus and put forward reflections and practical suggestions on high-school development aligned with requirements of the “Peak” Initiative.

Ms Sunny Huang Ying, Principal of SUIS Qingpu, presented the speech of “Example of School Development Plan” with the Five-Year Strategic Development Plan for SUIS Qingpu. Rooted in the school’s realities, aligned with the “Xiehe Five-Year Plan” as well as national and regional 15th Five-Year educational planning requirements, she outlined a clear development blueprint for SUIS Qingpu for the next one-, three- and five-year periods.

04 Parallel Breakout Sessions · In-depth Multi-dimensional Discussions

On the afternoon of the second day, five thematic breakout sessions ran simultaneously for group-based in-depth discussions.

Theme 1: Digital-intelligence Initiative — Deepening the Integration of AI and Education

Moderators: 

Mr Li Guoxing, Director of Education Digital Transformation Working Group; 

Mr Steven Xu, Chief Information Officer of SUIS Qingpu

Director Li Guoxing opened the session by building on the morning plenary sharing. Mr Steven Xu Xiaocheng, CIO of SUIS Qingpu, presented the school’s achievements in AI research and implementation, elaborating on the development history and application outcomes of the SUIS-Link smart platform, with emphasis on six AI-enabled scenarios: teaching assistance, student learning support, assessment support, research support, student development support and administrative support. Participants from campuses and central departments held thorough discussions with the moderators on practical challenges including technical deployment, management mechanisms and funding guarantees for AI-education integration.

Theme 2: “Peak” Initiative: Building Distinctive and Leading-edge High school Education

Moderators: Ms Maxine Lu, General Principal of Xiehe Education;

Mr Bright Liu Wei, Principal of SUIS Gubei

Closely aligned with high school tasks under the “Peak” Initiative of the Xiehe Five-Year Plan, heads of seven SUIS high-school campuses took turns to share their institutional strengths and practical challenges. Benchmarking against four sub-projects of the “Peak” Initiative, they discussed innovative internationalized education practices, mutual models of diverse international high-school curricula, and personalized diversified student development.

Theme 3: Development of SUIS-entrusted and Cooperative Schools

Moderators: Ms Maxine Lu, General Principal of Xiehe Education;

Dr. Zhan Shengli Specialist (Director Level) of School Management Department

This session focused on the sub-project for entrusted and cooperative schools under the “Fertile Soil” Initiative. Principals of entrusted and cooperative schools and directors of central departments participated in discussions. After Dr. Zhan Shengli briefly introduced the policies and types of educational entrusted management and cooperation, principals of four entrusted and cooperative schools each presented their current conditions, achievements and accumulated resources, while sorting out practical difficulties and required supporting resources. Maxine pointed out that high-quality development of entrusted and cooperative schools relies on the commitment of school management teams, as well as flexible professional support from central departments in response to school realities and local government educational requirements.

Theme 4: SUIS Schools Studying and Discussing the “Xiehe Five-Year Plan”

Principal teams from SUIS schools conducted focused study on the “Xiehe Five-Year Plan”. Combining their own school contexts, they discussed annual development plans for the new academic year.

Theme V: SUIS Schools Signing Agreement on Target-based Responsibility

School leadership teams held working communications with leaders of Xiehe Education Center and completed the signing of Agreement on Target-based Responsibility.

05 Closing Plenary for Practical Deliverables · Forging Ahead with Clear Goals

On the morning of August 23, the closing plenary was hosted by General Principal Ms Maxine Lu Huiwen. Principal teams from nine SUIS campuses presented their 2026-27 academic year development plans guided by the “Xiehe Five-Year Plan”. They defined core priorities and implementation roadmaps for each campus covering institutional objectives, curriculum development, faculty cultivation, AI-empowered education and student recruitment.

Maxine delivered closing remarks. She thanked principals for their professional dedication and experts for their guidance. In reference to tasks and projects in the “Xiehe Five-Year Plan”, she assigned key work priorities for the School Management Department from September to December in the coming new semester.

 

Final Words

Preparation ensures success. The 2026 Xiehe Education Center Principal Retreat marks a far reaching milestone in Xiehe’s development journey. It consolidated consensus, clarified directions and set implementation paths for Xiehe Education over the next five years. Taking outcomes of this retreat as guidance, all SUIS leaders and administrators will translate consensus into solid actions, ground themselves in educational practice, and jointly write a new chapter for Xiehe Education’s mission of “Developing in Harmony, where East Meets West”.