The Kick-off meeting for 2019 tasks of the Chinese Cassava Agricultural Research System (CCARS) was held in Chengmai, Hainan, on March 29-31, 2019. Participants from 18 Functional Research Laboratories and 12 Stations attended the event. As a critical year in the Thirteen Five-Year-Plan, directors from Functional Research Laboratories made theme reports covering breeding, intercropping, northern cultivation, green production, mechanization, exploration in edible foods and feedings, rural tourism, industrialization of Moringa. These reports showed the basic status related to cassava and Moringa, key issues in their industrialization, key technologies and solutions potentially to solve these issues, and arrangements and potential impacts in the tasks. These issues were also discussed intensively by all attendees. Finally, the tasks in 2019 were reported by representatives from the laboratories and station agency. Prof. Peng Zhang and Assoc. Prof. Qiuxiang Ma from SCCB made presentations in breeding theme and annual tasks, respectively. During the meeting, participants also attended the demo of cassava peeling machines.