Cultivation of young generation key to China's rejuvenation

Note: The following article is taken from the Chinese-language "Commentaries on International Affairs".

President Xi Jinping has called on the youth of China to strive for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and push forward the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

Chinese President Xi Jinping makes the remarks at a gathering held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 30, 2019 to mark the centenary of the May Fourth Movement. [Photo: Xinhua]

The President made the call on Tuesday at a gathering to mark the centenary of the May Fourth Movement. The movement, a revolutionary campaign pioneered by young intellectuals and participated by the people from all walks of life, was an anti-imperial and cultural campaign carried out to demonstrate against the then government's capitulation to the whims of Western powers in the Treaty of Versailles. Upset about the ceding of formerly German-held territory in Shandong to Japan following the end of the war, the demonstrations are considered the starting point of the nation's rejuvenation process. A hundred years after the movement was launched, China has entered a new era. As such, its young generation should shoulder the responsibilities of the times and become pioneers in the rejuvenation mission.

A gathering marking the centenary of the May Fourth Movement is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 30, 2019. [Photo: Xinhua/Liu Bin]

A hundred years ago, China was called the Sick Man of Asia, a name its people felt ashamed of. China's status in the world had plummeted due to its weakness and the numerous invasions in the late 1800's by foreign powers. A hundred years later, Chinese people are proud to say that "I am Made in China," as the country is no longer frail and weak after a century's transformation. The phrase, coined by Chinese table tennis player Ma Long after he won his third consecutive men's singles title at the World Championships in Budapest on Sunday, has gone viral among young people on China's social media sites. It reflects the pride the younger generation has for the nation. They've also been using it to pay a tribute to the May Fourth Movement which triggered the revolutionary changes that happened in the country in the following hundred years.

Chen Xuliang, a teacher in his 20s, covers children with quilts at a kindergarten in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, September 4, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua]

Though China has become the world's second largest economy after decades of hard work, more is still needed to ensure the nation can achieve its goal of greater rejuvenation. The younger generation should take inspiration from May Fourth and continue to uphold the spirit of working hard, as President Xi pointed out in his Tuesday speech.

In fact, China's younger generation has been combining advocacy with action. Young people have become a major force in a variety of fields such as logistics, poverty alleviation, rural education and aerospace. Outside China, a group of people with an average age of 39 have helped a local steel firm in Serbia turn losses into profits within three years. The management team, made up of nine people from China's Hebei Iron and Steel Group, have managed to secure steady jobs for 5,000 employees at the Smederevo Steel Plant, Serbia's biggest steel producer, while also creating 200 new jobs every year for young people. They say they intend to turn the plant into Europe's most competitive steel firm in the years to come.

Xu Mingsheng, a craftsman born in the 1990s, makes a clay sculpture at his studio in Daixi Township, Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, August 6, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua]

"A nation will prosper only when its young people thrive." The issue has long been a focus for President Xi Jinping. He's also been keen to make friends with young people from both China and the rest of the world. Not long ago, the President wrote a letter, responding to a group of American high school students, encouraging them to learn more about China and make more friends from all over the world through learning the Chinese language. In the List of Deliverables from the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation which ended over the weekend, five of the twenty-six cooperation projects proposed by the Chinese side are related to development involving the younger generation.

An article carried by the New York Times three years ago reminded world leaders that only by solving the problems faced by young people can a country have a bright future. As China strives for great rejuvenation, cultivation of the younger generation is strategically critical to accomplishing this mission.