Two years have passed since the GYLD program and young participants
received a reply letter from Chinese President Xi on August 10, 2021.
At the recent GYLD forum held by the Center for China and Globalization
on August 12, which coincided with the two-year anniversary of receiving
the letter from Xi, and also marked the International Youth Day as set by
the United Nations, Dominick recalled to the Global Times how he felt when
he read Xi's reply letter.
For many people looking for more opportunity or looking to learn from China,
such recognition means a lot and encourages people to do more for themselves,
for china, and also for the world, he said.
Two years ago, in their letter to President Xi, 36 young international GYLD
participants from 28 countries extended congratulations to the Communist
Party of China (CPC) on its centenary anniversary. In the letter, they also
talked about their trips across China and expressed their hopes of serving
as a bridge to promote exchanges and dialogue between China and the rest of the world.
In his reply, Xi hailed representatives of young international participants a
t the GYLD for their active efforts to visit various parts of China and deepen
their understanding of the country.
Xi wrote in the reply letter that "Happiness must be achieved through hard
work," noting that to achieve national development and revitalization, the
most important thing for China, a country with a vast territory and large
population, is to follow a development path suiting its local conditions.
"Practice has shown that as the new and uniquely Chinese path to modernization
grows even wider, it will bring better development prospects to China and
more benefits to the world," Xi said.
Even after completing a 100-year course of struggles, the CPC has remained
true to its original aspiration and founding mission, Xi noted, vowing that the
CPC will work tirelessly to realize the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation
and promote the development and advancement of humankind.
More overseas youths are welcome to China for exchanges, Xi said, hoping
that young people at home and abroad will enhance mutual understanding,
develop friendships, and achieve mutual success, thus contributing to the
building of a community with a shared future for humanity.
Initiated by Chinese think tanks, the GYLD offers a unique communication,
education, and professional development platform for young achievers with
diverse regional, cultural, and disciplinary backgrounds across the globe,
emphasizing shared values such as open and equal dialogue, intellectual
exchanges, inclusivity, and mutual learning.
Miao Lu, secretary-general of the CCG and founder of the GYLD program,
told the Global Times that the young participants have never expected to
receive a reply letter from Xi. "President Xi's encouragement makes these
young individuals feel welcomed by the country and by the country's top leader," she said.
"Moreover, it shows that China welcomes and values young people, their
voices, and youth power in coping with global challenges," Miao said.
Witness of great changes
Dominick, a professional translator and editor who has lived and worked i
n Beijing since 2005, is usually known as Tan Jiaxu by his Chinese friends,
or Lao Tan (old brother Tan). He is currently the owner of a small company
in Beijing, translating and publishing the works of some
Chinese scholars, along with different types of cultural and linguistic works.
He is also the founder and organizer of Krankin' thru of China, which is
a movement aiming to popularize the sport of hand cycling in China and,
with it, a more active, healthier lifestyle for people living with disabilities
in the country.
The Peking University alumnus told the Global Times that he was the main
author of the letter to Xi, while the contents were contributed by him and
another GYLD member from Cameroon, who was a PhD student at the P
eking University. The two members gathered all of the
experiences and ideas that GYLD members had shared.
"It was around 10 months at that time after our China Tour experiences in
China, and we wanted to share with the president what we had gained and
learned from our experiences in China through the GYLD," Dominick said,
recalling the reason why he and other participants came up with the idea
of writing a letter to Xi.
Dominick said that he was deeply impressed by how China's unique path o
f development has helped in facilitating poverty alleviation and providing
medical services online through the use of big data technology in Southwest
China's Guizhou Province.
In April 2021, he and 10 other international participants from eight countries
such as Brazil, Cameroon, and South Korea, went to Guizhou to learn how big
data was being used and applied to benefit people.
Guizhou Province is known as a major big data hub in China for its key and
even ultra-large data centers. According to the Xinhua News Agency, as of
March 2023, the province had a total of 18 large and ultra-large data
centers, eight among them being ultra-large data centers.
They visited the National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zone, which is
located in Guiyang, the capital city of Guizhou. "There I learned that
medical services can be provided online to remote communities. Because
of 5G technology, infrastructure, and big data, all of medical resources can
be linked and become available for those who live in mountainous areas
Dominick said.
"Even with high speed rail and new highways, it might take at least
three to four hours for a doctor to go from a better hospital in Guiyang t
o the remote Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture in the
province. Having the technology and the big data resources, doctors can
deliver medical services to people in remote areas and learn about their
situation in real time, which is very important and impressive he said.
"By writing the letter, we wanted to let the president know that we're
doing important and meaningful things in China, that we care about
China's direction and development, and that we can be a part of that
and make our own contribution," Dominick recalled.
After receiving the reply letter, Dominick said that he felt his efforts
and work had been recognized by the president, who encourages
him to go further, continue exploring, learning, and experiencing China.
International youngsters from 11 countries visit the Standing
Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress and
Zaoyingbeili community, in Beijing, on May 31, 2023. Photo: Courtesy of GYLD
International youngsters from 11 countries visit the Standing
Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress and
Zaoyingbeili community, in Beijing, on May 31, 2023. Photo: Courtesy of GYLD
Understanding of political system
Zoon Ahmed Khan, a research fellow from Pakistan at the One
Belt-One Road Strategy Institute of Tsinghua University, has
been lived in Beijing for about eight years.
Focusing on gaining a deeper understanding of the BRI and
also South-South Cooperation, Zoon said that she has participated
in two trips organized by the GYLD program, one in Southwest
China's Sichuan Province, and another one in Northwest China's
Shaanxi Province, in early and late June 2021 respectively.
"Most of the international youth had lived in China and had
understood and read about the massive transformations and
positive developments happening in the country," Zoon told
the Global Times, adding that "we had never been that up close
o people who were personally impacted or the frontliners who
had made this progress possible. So, the trips were very inspiring to us."
"We feel like we are part of the Chinese community," Zoon said.
Zoon also recalled her experience in visiting the Beijing Municipal
People's Congress and the Zaoyingbeili community in the capital city's
Maizidian sub-district in May this year, to dive into the fundamental
political institute, learning about the concept and practice of the
whole process people's democracy.
"To understand the real secrets of China's rapid development and
the logic behind such development, it is necessary to understand
the country's political system. This is what many young participants
of the program care about, and the whole world also cares about
this," Miao told the Global Times.
"However, there is little opportunity for them to really dive into
and talk with deputies from the people's congress and grassroots
workers at communities," Miao explained to the Global Times.
On May 31, young participants from 11 countries communicated
with deputies from the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, learning
how decisions are collectively made by the citizens
and transformed into policies that really respond to people's needs.
"China's whole-process people's democracy is setting a better,
more realistic, and more desirable standard for how good governance
should be done," Zoon told the Global Times about her sentiments after the visit.
Zoon said that China's whole-process people's democracy is a kind
of democracy that really works. What policy makers and citizens care
about is to what degree the policies, changes, and institutions really
respond to people's needs and improve their lives, she said. "We w
ere able to see how those communities in Beijing actually get their c
itizens' living standards improved."
Zoon recalled one sentence from Xi's reply letter, which encourages her the most.
Xi said that more overseas youths are welcome to China for
exchanges, hoping that young people at home and abroad
will enhance mutual understanding, develop friendship, and achieve mutual success.
"It's an encouragement for young people to think beyond bo
rders and think about the shared reality that we all exist in, a
nd it welcomes more young people from all parts of the wor
ld to experience and learn about China, to work on challen
ges that affect us all as the human race, as a civilization, and as humankind," she said.
She called for young people, regardless of nationality, from W
estern or Eastern countries, to "think a little outside the box
," realizing that everyone is living in a world that's changing.
"An open-minded attitude plays an important role in rec
ognizing the diversity in the world and realizing that th
ere is no one way of doing things. The uniqueness of ea
ch country is something not only needs to be respected
and understood, but also we can all learn from," Zoon said.