Youth of China in the New Era
We have stood at a new historical starting point and embarked on a new journey in achieving the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Looking ahead to the new era, China's youth are embracing precious opportunities to realize their ambitions and display their talents, as they shoulder the important responsibility of building a great modern socialist country and realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.
The Chinese Dream is a dream about history, the present and the future. It is cherished by all of the people, but even more so by the young. China's youth in the new era will keep on striving with boundless energy, to turn the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation into reality.
In order to fully showcase the vigorous image and the invaluable contribution of China's youth in the new era, China is releasing this white paper on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CYLC.
I. The New Era: Great Times with Ample Opportunities
Great times make fine young people and flourishing ages nurture true talent. The Chinese nation has achieved a tremendous transformation from obtaining independence and becoming prosperous to growing in strength, and the current new era bestows prosperity and hope. China's rejuvenation has become an unstoppable process.
Living in the best times in Chinese history, the current young generation enjoys an enabling environment for development, a broad space to grow, and wonderful opportunities to make a good career.
(1) Better Conditions for Development
China's economic and technological influence and composite national strength keep growing, which offers a sound foundation for China's youth to develop with increasing confidence.
Better material conditions. Affluence provides a good foundation for the young generation to develop and grow.
China has achieved two miracles－rapid economic growth and lasting social stability. In 2021, its economy ranked second in the world in size, with GDP exceeding 110 trillion yuan. As more than 25 million young people have escaped poverty, this generation can look forward to a better future of greater prosperity.
In pursuing a life of high quality, young people are changing their consumption habits from consuming mass products and services to customized ones. They are changing from buying to meet their basic needs to buying to enjoy life, from having clothing to wear to dressing fashionably, from having food to eat to eating well for good health, and from taking affordable transportation to choosing fast and comfortable vehicles. Their standard of living has seen qualitative changes and their prospects for development are supported by a solid material foundation.
Greater space for rich intellectual and cultural life. A rich and colorful intellectual and cultural life is a precondition for young people to prosper and grow.
With a growing number of libraries, museums, cultural centers, art galleries and other public cultural facilities being built [By the end of 2020, the number of registered museums had reached 5,788 across the country, with one new museum being opened every two days on average during the period 2016-2020.], young people now enjoy notably improved public cultural services. Instead of feeling amazed at any new place they visit, they are getting used to visiting all kinds of places, thus refining their cultural tastes. Through the buoyant growth of traditional cultural industries such as publishing, television, movies, and artistic performance, and emerging cultural sectors such as the digital creative industry, online audio and visual, digital publishing, digital entertainment and online performance and broadcasting, young people now find diverse public cultural products available to them. Instead of reading and watching whatever they could get hold of, they can read and watch whatever they would like, thus broadening their vision. As a huge variety of tourist products are created for them to choose, such as cultural tours, countryside tours, CPC heritage tours and international travel packages, their desire to travel around the world is now satisfied. Instead of affordable sightseeing trips near their homes, they can travel anywhere they wish, thus enriching their knowledge and experience. These expanding intellectual and cultural spaces offer greater possibilities for young Chinese to achieve more, set lofty goals, and refine their tastes.
