IV. Having a Global Vision and a Strong Sense of Responsibility
The younger generation is the future of a country and the hope of the world. China's youth in the new era care about their family and country and share that concern for the rest of humanity. They uphold the beliefs advocated by Chinese culture that all peoples are one family and the world is a commonwealth. They actively draw inspiration from the experience and achievements of other countries and civilizations. They work along with their peers from around the world to build a global community of shared futures and advocate peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, which are the common values of humanity, for the purpose of creating a better future for all.
(1) Embracing the World with Greater Openness and Confidence
As China opens its doors wider to the outside world, the country's young people today are building a greater understanding of international exchanges and cooperation. They are embracing the world, pursuing broader and deeper integration with others, and showing greater rationality, inclusiveness, self-confidence and self-reliance, by studying, working, travelling, and participating in visiting programs abroad.
Studying abroad is the most important way for Chinese youngsters to learn about the world. In 1978, China sent just over 800 students abroad. In 2019, more than 700,000 Chinese students went abroad to undertake education courses. Over the past four decades, the total number of Chinese people studying abroad has exceeded 6.5 million. The number of Chinese overseas returnees grew from 248 in 1978 to more than 580,000 in 2019. The total number of overseas returnees has exceeded 4.2 million in the past more than four decades. In addition, a large number of Chinese young people go abroad for travel, visiting programs, business tours, and labour cooperation, which enable them to better understand the world. In 2019 alone, Chinese citizens made 170 million overseas trips. The channels for Chinese youth to know about the world continue to expand, and their global vision is steadily broadening.
The "circle of friends" with whom China can communicate and cooperate continues to grow. China's youth seize every opportunity to tell China's stories and participate in the global governance of youth affairs in various international arenas, and promote win-win cooperation through active exchanges and interactions under bilateral and multilateral frameworks. As young Chinese people take a more active part in bilateral exchange mechanisms, they become closer to their peers in other countries and build deeper bilateral ties. Under the framework of the Chinese Youth Global Partnership, China has established exchange and cooperation relationships with more than 100 international organizations, government youth agencies, political parties, and non-governmental youth organizations. Chinese youth are engaged in frequent international exchanges in fields like education, science, culture, arts, sports, and the media under the cultural and people-to-people exchange mechanisms between China and other countries and regions such as Russia, the United States, Europe, India and Japan. China's youth and their partners in neighbouring countries and developing countries carry out cultural and people-to-people exchanges that bring fruitful results; they also achieve mutual benefit through incubating startups, promoting economic and trade cooperation, advancing technological exchange, and other efforts. China's young people have become more active in joining international organizations, attending international conferences, and participating in global governance. As a result, they have succeeded in enhancing the international image of China's youth.
Hundreds of young people from China work hard for the UN and other international organizations and contribute to world peace and development. China's young people are growing in confidence as they spread China's voice and express China's ideas at the UN Youth Forum, the UNESCO Youth Forum, and other multilateral mechanisms and in international youth organizations such as the Asian Youth Council. This allows them to serve as young ambassadors of Sino-foreign friendship.
(2) Meeting the Responsibility to Build a Global Community of Shared Future
Young Chinese of the new era are fully aware that the future of each and every nation and country is interlocked. We should stand together and help each other in the face of adversity, and endeavour to build this planet of ours into a single family of shared future.
Building consensus among youth through heart-to-heart communication and dialogue. Young Chinese actively advocate and practice the idea of building a global community of shared futures. They are committed to telling the stories of global youth, spreading the voice of global youth, and building consensus among global youth on issues such as poverty alleviation, climate change, and anti-Covid cooperation. In 2020, at an online seminar on Covid-19 organized by the World Health Organization and other UN agencies, a young representative of China shared her moving story as a volunteer, recounted some experiences, and explained China's science-based response to the epidemic. Young Chinese also contribute their wisdom and ideas for safeguarding global youth rights to subsistence, development, protection and participation in the process of formulating documents on youth cooperation under international mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS, and G20. During the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the youth volunteers of China and young athletes from many countries overcame language barriers and cultural differences as they expressed goodwill with smiles, build friendships through personal contact, and pooled their strengths through heart-to-heart communication. Those young people worked together to build bridges towards a shared future and spread the vision of building a global community of shared future around the world in their own way.
Hand in hand on the journey towards a brighter future. China's youth firmly bear in mind the concept of building a global community of shared future, and actively implement it in practice. They devote themselves to the construction of the Belt and Road while following the principles of "extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits". Hundreds of thousands of young employees in Chinese companies operating overseas work hard in foreign lands far from home, contributing to local economic and social development. They also take an active part in volunteer services, charitable donations, and cultural exchanges, building friendships and cooperation with young people in the host countries. At present, many volunteer Chinese teachers, most of whom are young people, are working in more than 100 countries to help youth in other countries to study Chinese culture. The China Youth Volunteer Overseas Service Program has sent more than 700 young volunteers to over 20 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to provide services in areas like medical care, agricultural technology, civil engineering, industrial technology, economic management, and social development. Demonstrating a great love for humanity and upholding a spirit of humanism, young Chinese soldiers actively participate in UN peacekeeping missions; they have made their contributions to defending world peace. By 2020, China had dispatched more than 40,000 peacekeepers, and 16 of them, under the age of 30 on average, had sacrificed their lives. The actions of Chinese youth have demonstrated that as long as people around the world unite with one heart and one mind and move forward hand in hand, we will build a global community with a brighter future.
(3) Global Action Initiative of China's Youth
Humanity has entered a new era of interconnection, with countries sharing common interests and their futures closely linked. Across the globe greater deficits of governance, trust, peace and development are emerging, and we are seeing escalating chaos, discord and injustice. Profound changes of a scale unseen in a century, together with the Covid-19 pandemic, are presenting grave challenges to the global economy and people's prospects of a better life. Humanity has found itself at a crossroads: peace or war, light or darkness, progress or regression - there are significant choices that we need to make. The era calls on global youth to unite with one heart, strengthen mutual understanding, learn from each other, view the world from the angle of mutual appreciation, mutual learning, and mutual benefit, so as to jointly build a global community of shared future. China's youth therefore call on young people around the world:
- To uphold the values of beauty, uprightness, and goodness. Young people should set themselves lofty ideals and conduct themselves with moral integrity. They should follow the right path, value kindness, goodness, and beauty, have an ardent love for life, and contribute to society. They should make every possible effort to promote truth and spread positive energy.
- To maintain a spirit of youth and vigor. Young people should be self-confident, self-reliant, and high in spirits. They should seek to improve and extend themselves, fulfill their dreams, and show their worth, and strive to present themselves in the best possible light. They should advocate healthy lifestyles, pursue physical and mental health, foster a sound outlook, and maintain vigor.
- To shoulder the responsibility for national development. Young people, as masters of their respective countries, should study hard to improve their skills and abilities, leverage their wisdom, and be bold in innovation. Ready to struggle and willing to work hard, they should be at the forefront of the times and shoulder the historic mission to realize the development and progress of their countries.
- To contribute wisdom and strength to world peace and development. With the world and the future in mind, young people should uphold the common values of humanity, set the trends of history and lead the tides of the times, and stand on the side of fairness, justice, and human progress. They should safeguard world peace, promote common development, defend democracy and freedom, and make a greater contribution to building a prosperous, beautiful world.
China's youth look forward to a world of peace, stability, development and prosperity. They expect every country and region to provide favorable conditions for youth development, and hope all young people across the globe will shoulder their responsibilities and contribute their wisdom and strength to building an open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity.
Conclusion
A country will be full of hope and can look forward to a bright prospect when its young generation has ideals, abilities, and a strong sense of responsibility. The future of China and the future of the wider world both belong to the young.
In the future, the young Chinese generation will "with their youthfulness, create a vibrant family, country, nation, human community, Earth and the universe." They will make their youthful dreams come true.
In the future, with successive efforts from one generation of young people to the next, China will scale new heights in every dimension, achieving economic, political, cultural, ethical, social, and eco-environmental progress. The Chinese people will enjoy a happier and healthier life and the Chinese nation will become a proud and active member of the community of nations. The great Chinese Dream will eventually become a reality.
The future of the world is related to the destiny of every young person, and it also depends on the efforts that every young person makes. If young people from all countries unite for the common goal, uphold justice, work in harmony, help each other, conduct consultation as equals, and commit to openness and innovation, we will be able to steer clear of strife and war, build a "global village" that pursues peaceful development and harmony, jointly create a future of prosperity, health, safety, mutual respect, mutual learning, and shared benefits, and ultimately realize the common dream of all of humanity.
China's youth stand ready to work with their counterparts from all over the world and contribute their wisdom and strength to building a global community of shared future and a better world.
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