Beijing International Youth Forum: Voice of Youth

At the Beijing International Youth Forum on Friday, young people from around the world held a dialogue on Global Governance and Youth Leadership, discussing the necessity of youth participation in governance, what kind of youth should be cultivated in colleges and universities, and how young people should know the world. Among them, Alexander Li, founder of NPO GreenClub from the United States, shared the reason why he decided to come to China, and proposed that “climate change and Sino-US relations, the two most important issues in the world today, are actually human issues. To solve them, we should start from how people get along with each other”.

Later, a group of young people, including world champions and Olympic workers, discussed the Olympic Spirit and a New Generation of Youth. Both world champions mentioned the equality and openness embodied in the Olympic spirit, saying that the Olympic Games are a stage for the youth of different countries to show themselves, connect the world and transmit different cultures. Among them, Tong Jian, a famous Chinese figure skater, recalled the development of Chinese figure skating in the past decades and stressed the importance of young people actively participating in international cooperation in sports development. Laszlo Vajda, Senior Advisor to the Beijing Organizating Committee For the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, talked about the current situation that the youth pay less attention to the Olympic events, mentioned the influence of the new Olympic sports on the Olympic Games, and advocated youth to “go for change, express yourself and sound your opinion.”

At the closing ceremony, Wangle Yuning, Vice President of the Academy of Contemporary China and the World Studies, and several speakers spoke highly of the significance of this forum, called on the international youth to unite for the future of the world, and made an invitation to “meet again in the second forum”.