经济学院 赖文迪 

In 1919, more than 3,000 college students rose up to uphold China's sovereignty. The anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolutionary movement, known as May fourth movement, marked the beginning of the Neo-nationalist Movement in China and lit up the torch of national independence. A century passed. Faced with Covid-19 epidemic, economic recession, technological barriers and other complications, the contemporary youth are still the carriers of the torch, bearing the responsibility to serve the people, promote social development and revive the country.

One evidence is that the contemporary youth are active in public engagement for community betterment. A good case in point is the increasing number of volunteers. As of 2021, there has been more than 70,000,000 registered youth volunteers in Chinese Young Volunteers Association (Chinese Young Volunteers Association, 2021), who dedicate their time and effort to serve the people in need. In the fight against Covid-19 in 2020, for example, over 1,700,000 youth volunteers participated in emergency voluntary work, delivering daily necessities to families, assisting the medical workers with nucleic acid test and vaccination, collecting and analyzing information from epidemiologic investigation. With patience, endurance and perseverance, contemporary youth always worked out the tasks to serve the needed in the pursuit of people’s well-being.

Another evidence is their sensitive yet sensible reaction to social changes and needs. For instance, students from Xi’an Gaoxin No.1 High School discovered the digital gap that emerge with the increase of aging population. In an attempt to bridge the digital gap, they submitted a proposal to model CPPCC (Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference), offering solutions including the retention of traditional service mode and the innovation of elderly-friendly electronics product (Zheng, 2020). Their efforts have promoted the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to adopt special action plans to update the applications with elderly-oriented functions for easy accessibility in 2021. This, however, is not an exception. Over 167,000 youth have participated in National Youth Model CPPCC Proposals Solicitation Campaign with nearly 50,000 proposals (Yang, 2022), and about 525,000 youths have submitted approximately 41,000 proposals through Youth’s Voice @ China Two Sessions (Yang, 2022). These young people demonstrate sincere concerns for social advancement, identifying problems and seeking solutions to create a more civil, equal and harmonious society.

Apart from involvement in voluntary service and social advancement, a growing number of young professionals are committing themselves to enhancing China’s competitiveness in science and technology. To illustrate, aerospace science, one of the most innovative and significant areas of science and technology, is traditionally dominated by older experienced researchers in many countries. For example, in America approximately three quarters of employees in NASA are over 40-year-old, accountable for Apollo program, International Space Station and other exploration in outer space (Skytland & Yates, 2019). However, more than 85% of aerospace researchers are under 30 in Beijing Aerospace Control Center, one of the three space control centers owning the technology of launching and controlling manned spacecrafts in the world (Jia, 2021). They undertake most of the duty in the center, including coordination with all branches, optimization of contingency plans and so on. Their creativity, diligence and dedication contribute to the success of China's first Mars exploration mission, Tianwen-1, and China Space Station, the milestone of China aerospace science. These young professionals are leading China into the first league in science and technology, becoming a significant power in national rejuvenation.

The skeptics doubt that contemporary Chinese youth are incapable of undertaking the responsibility of China’s development on the account that many young people choose “lying flat”. However, this is a fallacy of overgeneralization. Indeed, some young people give up on hard work and choose to stay in their comfort zone due to the pressure from intense competition or mounting uncertainties. But the large proportion of young people actively embrace the changing tide of the new era.  As has been demonstrated by the volunteers in the battle against Covid-19, the high school students who motioned for a better society and the young researchers who work diligently for independent innovation, they will coordinate their knowledge, skill and action to strive for people’s well-being, social improvement and the revival of the country.

Liang Qichao once said, “A nation will prosper only when its young people thrive”. Contemporary Chinese youth not only inherit the courage to shoulder the responsibility of the times from their predecessors, but also form the spirit of innovation which enables them to meet the challenges ahead with fresh ideas. They are inheritors of the great traditions, torchbearers of the present and pioneers of the brand-new future.

Works Cited

He, Xin. “The Introduction to Chinese Young Volunteers Association.” Zgzyz.cyol.com, 3 Mar. 2021, zgzyz.cyol.com/content/2021-03/03/content_11482259.htm.

Jia, Xuan. “The young China aerospace team”(年轻的中国航天“天团”). China Economic Weekly (中国经济周刊), July 2021, pp. 44–49, www.ceweekly.cn/2021/0802/354476.shtml.

Skytland, Nick, and Suzanna Yates. “Developing Cross-Generational Talent.” Blogs.nasa.gov, 13 Feb. 2019, blogs.nasa.gov/futureofwork/tag/millennails/.

The State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China. Youth of China in the New Era. 21 Apr. 2022, www.scio.gov.cn/zfbps/32832/Document/1723331/1723331.htm.

Yang, Baoguang. “The team serves the overall situation and speaks for the youth!” (这个团队服务大局为青少年发声！). News.cyol.com, 18 Mar. 2022, news.cyol.com/gb/articles/2022-03/18/content_wmEnBhRMZ.html.

Zheng, Haoyue. “‘Students’ proposal’ in the Two Sessions, the youth are speaking for the people” (“学生提案”上两会 青少年为民发声). M.cnr.cn, 22 May 2020, m.cnr.cn/news/20200522/t20200522_525100814.html.