The Belt and Road Youth Forum of the 2050 Conference kicked off in Yunxi, or Cloud Town, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Saturday. It was themed "The mission of young people from Belt and Road cities in promoting Innovation in the post-pandemic era".

Government officials and student delegates presented at the event either in person or remotely. They included Li Minggang, China's ambassador to Kuwait; Vladimir Norov, secretary-general of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO); Maria Moreni, president of Italy-China Link and co-president of Belt and Road Local Cooperation (BRLC); Kyosti Oikarinen, co-president of the BRLC; Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, secretary-general Steffen Woerner, executive director of Stadtjugendring Heidelberg; and Zhai Mofan, a student from the Hangzhou's China Academy of Art.

Li shared his story of how he took the lead in building the home page of the embassy website when he was working at the Chinese embassy in the United States and encouraged young people to make bold suggestions and innovations in their work. He believes that China will become an all-around modern country through the innovative spirit of young people.

"There are 1.8 billion young people living in the world today — the largest number in the history of mankind. Almost half the world's youth live in the SCO region, which has more than 800 million people. Young people, with their energy, innovation and courageous ideas, are an important pillar of SCO's future development in various aspects of its activities," Norov said.

"The outcome of the 2050 Conference will allow us to develop concrete proposals and recommendations for the promotion and implementation of promising innovative ideas by the younger generation, and to establish close cooperation within the SCO."

Zhai talked about online art in the post-pandemic era from the perspective of painting. He said that under the inspiration of the Belt and Road Initiative, artistic creation should be more people-oriented and employ technology with a positive and cautious attitude.

Hangzhou experienced many difficulties and challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic last year. Yet, the city has realized an upturn in its economy thanks to digital reform and smart governance, as well as to the hard work of all the citizens, with young people the essential part, said Zhou Shu, secretary general of the BRLC and director of the foreign affairs office of the Hangzhou municipal government.

As a famous historical and cultural city, a city of innovation and vitality and a city of ecological civilization, Hangzhou is bound to become a "modern international metropolis with Chinese socialist characteristics" both digitally and physically, Zhou said.

The forum was a highlight of the annual event, called the 2050 Conference, which ran from April 23 to 25. Its them was "Tech brings youth together", which provided a platform for young tech enthusiasts to communicate and brainstorm on technological innovations to make people's daily lives better.