The 10th postgraduate academic conference of Key Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment for Temperate East Aisa (RCE-TEA) of Chinese Academy of Sciences was held on 21 November, 2018, in Beijing. Over eighty researchers and graduate students from RCE-TEA participated in this conference focusing on three themes--Regional ecological environment change, water cycle and extreme weather climate, and regional model development and application. In a series of thematic presentations, Timur Berdimbetov, Ilyas Sana, Abubakar Omer, and Katchele Faustin OGOU shared their progress, important results and experiences in drylands research. The presentations considered a range of issues, including natural and human influences on extreme weather, ecological environment change, and water cycle. These presentations led to a spirited discussion among the participants concerning the importance of regional model development and application, the complexity of ecological environment change. In closing ceremony, Prof. JIA Gensuo summarized the conference and reviewed the past nine academic activities. Prof. JIA complimented post graduate academic conference as a great platform for developing students’ capacity.