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On 3-4 October 2018, the 18 participants to the ERC ENP-China project (ENP-MUC) met for two days of intensive discussion at the Maison de la Recherche in the Schuman Campus of Aix-Marseille University. Prof. Pierre-Yves Gilles, dean of the Faculty of Arts, Letters, Languages and Humanities delivered a heart-warming welcome speech to kick off the meeting.The presentations and debates were spread over four panels:The project: prospects and challengesMethodological issues: NLP and machine learningMethodological issues: Databases and information systemsWork organization: planning, meeting, toolbox, communicationAll through the meeting, ample time was left for debating major aspect of the project, such as the issue of sources, of historical objectives, as well as the crucial question of connecting and articulating historical inquiry and digital methods such as we plan to implement. In particular, the nature of the Chinese language and its evolution over the century under study raised very challenging questions from the audience. Brainstorming over sources also contributed to pointing out unsuspected resources.Luca GabbianiFeng Yi (馮藝)Julie Chiang (蔣慈暉)Pierre Magistry &#38; Cécile ArmandA central function of the meeting was definitely for all the participants to gather for the first time, to get to know each other, and to address the common challenge of collaborating on an ambitious project from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. There was a general atmosphere of genuine intellectual curiosity about the potential of harnessing a broad range of techniques in language processing and computing to delve into complex and massive historical documents.P.I.Peter CornwellKatrine Wong &#38; Wu Jen-shu (巫仁恕)Jean-Pierre Dedieu &#38; Wu Jen-shu (巫仁恕)One of the conditions for the successful implementation of the project is seamless communication. To achieve this necessary objective for an international team spread over Europe and Asia, we shall harness advanced digital tools for team work,  such as a collaborative platform, but the emphasis will also be  on regular team and group meetings through videoconferencing, as well as face-to-face seminars and training workshops. Actively in meetingInaugural Meeting Agenda3 October 2018 – Morning session – 9h-12h30Welcome address (Dean of ALLSH)Self-presentations (2 mn/participant)The project: prospects and challenges (Christian Henriot)Initial Q&#38;A debateOne central question, three locations, and case studies: getting off the groundSourcesWho and how?External collaborations3 October 2018 – Afternoon session – 14h-17h30Methodological issues: NLP (Laurent Prévôt) Q&#38;A debate Methodological issues: data mining to machine learning (Benoît Favre) Q&#38;A debate Project management (Tommaso Zaccaro/Richard Ferrato) Rules for publication &#38; ERC acknowledgementQ&#38;A debate4 October 2018 - Morning session - 9h-12hMethodological issues: databases and information systems (Jean-Pierre Dedieu)Q&#38;A debate Methodological issues: databases and information systems (Peter Cornwell)The ERC Project &#38; the future of data (Peter Cornwell)Q&#38;A debateConnecting the dots: historical questions &#38; digital methodsConnecting the dots: Upstream &#38; downstream digital tool/resources 4 October 2018 - Afternoon session - 13h30-15h30Work organization: planning and meetings (team seminar, training, etc.)Work organization: the day-to-day toolboxWork organization: good practices (and best ones too)Work organization: project blog &#38; web platformClosing of meetingList of participantsChristian Henriot, Aix-Marseille University/IrAsia (P.I.)Cécile Armand, Aix-MarseilleUniversity (ERC)Patrice Bellot, Aix-MarseilleUniversity, Laboratoire d'Informatique etSystèmesJulie Chiang, Aix-MarseilleUniversity (ERC)Peter Cornwell, Westminster University/Data FuturesJean-Pierre Dedieu, CNRS-Institut d'Asie OrientaleBenoît Favre, Aix-Marseille University, Laboratoire d'Informatique et SystèmesFeng Yi, CNRS/IrAsiaLuca Gabbiani, Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO)Andréa Linhares-Chevassu, Aix-Marseille University (ERC)Lien Ling-ling, Academia Sinica, Institute of Modern HistoryPierre Magistry, Aix-Marseille University (ERC)Xavier Paulès, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) Laurent Prévôt, Aix-Marseille University, Laboratoire Parole et LangageSun Huei-min, Academia Sinica, Institute of Modern HistoryWu Jen-shu, Academia Sinica, Institute of Modern HistoryKatrine Wong, Lumière-Lyon 2 University