Exchanges of young talent set to get major boost

China is willing to work with other countries to promote the global mobility of young talents, strengthen people-to-people exchanges and enhance global cooperation in education, and science and technology, officials and experts from home and abroad said on Friday.

Young people are the driving force behind science and technology innovation, and more efforts are needed to build platforms that allow them to innovate and exercise their entrepreneurial skills, the experts said.

They made the remarks at the Beijing International Youth Innovation and Development Forum. As one of the subforums of the ongoing 2023 Zhongguancun Forum, it is hosted by Beijing Talent Work Bureau, China Daily and a center for overseas talent in Beijing.

Sun Meijun, head of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Beijing Municipal Committee, said that as the Chinese capital, Beijing has unique advantages in pooling youth strength and serving innovative development.

The city has almost 100 universities, more than 1,000 research institutes and more than 1 million college students and teachers. Beijing ranks on top among global scientific research cities, while its entrepreneurship ecosystem is ranked first in Asia and fourth globally, she said.

Chen Jie, vice-minister of education, said the essence of innovation-driven development lies in talent. Talent drives development and innovation determines the future, he said.

Young talent is a key factor in scientific and technological innovation. The Ministry of Education will continue to make efforts to cultivate and nurture young talent, in order to build a platform for the exchange of global innovation resources and accelerate the establishment of a world talent hub, Chen said.

China values talent cultivation and makes great efforts to create favorable environment for the development of young talent, he said.

To promote high-quality education development, the ministry has deepened education reform and continuously expanded education opening-up to cultivate and nurture more international and multidisciplinary talent, he said.

Qu Yingpu, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily, said that in the new era, innovation is essential to promoting high-quality development, meeting people's desire for high-quality life, building new development paradigms and creating a community with a shared future for mankind.

The international situation today is very complicated and certain countries are trying to undermine the development of others in science and technology through decoupling and containment measures, he said.

Under such unfavorable circumstances, people around the world with vision should further strengthen international technological cooperation, Qu said.

As a national English-language newspaper, China Daily has made good use of its multimedia strength and resources at home and abroad to launch a series of new media products centered on youth, and hosted special brand events to tell the stories of youth communication and innovation, and promote people-to-people exchanges and global cooperation, he said.

"From a broader perspective and with more active efforts, China Daily will tell stories about the Chinese youth and global innovation and entrepreneurship to the world to promote global people-to-people exchanges, and make new contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind," Qu said.

Jurg Burri, Switzerland's ambassador to China, said the Swiss and Chinese people have a very similar concept of youth, and therefore the two countries have very good reasons to work together when offering opportunities to the youth.

No generation owns the planet; it only holds the planet for the next generation. Therefore, Switzerland, China and all other countries must prepare the next generation to hold the planet — and hold it responsibly — for the generation to follow, he said.

Barry C. Barish, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics and a professor at California Institute of Technology, said international talent can bring advanced technology and innovative thinking, making it easier for local companies to improve competitiveness. So countries should strengthen the introduction and management of such talent, he said.