Young leaders explore sites, make connections

Youth representatives from member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations noted that the China-ASEAN Expo has built a platform for youth exchanges, transforming participants into contributors and injecting momentum into deepening cooperation.

The China-ASEAN Young Leaders' Growth Program was launched at the 21st China-ASEAN Expo in 2024.

Co-hosted by the expo's secretariat and the ASEAN secretariat, the program aims to cultivate young leaders with an international perspective through dialogue and research.

Young representatives are invited to attend the expo and engage in high-level forums, industry matchmaking meetings, and other activities. Participants also conduct joint research to address issues in regional cooperation and formulate policy recommendations.

Additionally, the program includes the implementation of "small and beautiful" projects to promote replicable, people-benefiting cooperation initiatives.

As a key part of the program, the Seminar on China-ASEAN Young Leaders' Growth Program visited Sanjiang Dong autonomous county in Liuzhou city in June.

Twenty-nine youth representatives from six ASEAN countries engaged with local government departments, enterprises and communities.

Through discussions, intangible cultural heritage experiences and industry visits, they exchanged insights on sustainable development.

The group toured ecological tea industrial parks to explore practices in integrating agriculture, culture and tourism, and launched the first phase of the "small and beautiful" demonstration tea garden under the China-ASEAN Young Leaders' Growth Program.

Through this project, representatives can virtually adopt a plot of tea fields, with proceeds from tea sales contributing to the development of the village collective economy.

A Malaysian participant noted that this sustainable industry assistance model enables them to participate in China's rural vitalization and public welfare undertakings, achieving mutual benefit and win-win results.

Other seminar participants viewed the trip to Sanjiang as a window for cultural exchange and mutual learning between Chinese and ASEAN youth and a practical classroom for nurturing young leaders.

In addition, participants visited the Wuxiang Cloud Valley Smart Computing Center in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.