Online symposium lauds youthful approach

An international dialogue was conducted for youth representatives to discuss the prospect of entrepreneurship, climate change, international trade and other topics with experts including Ban Ki-moon, former UN Secretary-General, and Irina Bokova, former director-general of UNESCO, on Feb 3.

Ban noted during the online event that the past few years have witnessed growing uncertainty with regard to the international order. Expanding protectionism has destabilized international trade and value chains; unilateralism and populism have negatively affected global unity and cooperation; and the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed people's daily lives.

"At this moment, rebooting the dialogue between the East and the West, especially among young people, is more important than ever," he said. "Multilateralism is the only way out and diversity in civilizations should be respected."

During the dialogue, Ban also expressed his desire for a stable, rational, constructive US-China relationship based on mutual understanding, which, in his view, would help bring the world back to normalcy and help humanity better prepare for future contingencies.

The event was held jointly by the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration and the Chinese branch of Dewey Center, aiming to become the social, educational and global partnership gateway between young elites and leading educational institutions with a focus on STEAM(science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) plus sports, and future education through a global partnership for young leaders.

Additionally, the Vienna-based Ban Ki-moon Center for Global Citizens, as a partner of the Dewey Center, will set a liaison office at the latter's base in Beijing, to better carry out its mission of working for peace, poverty eradication, empowerment of youth and women, justice and human rights worldwide.

He added that both centers will work for various young leaders' programs with the academic support of the world's leading universities, in order to foster a new generation of international pioneers that fully utilize new 5G technology and embrace a global vision and ability, with a sense of global responsibility, partnership and consensus.