Wow! The 2nd Silk Road & Young Dreams!

“Silk Road & Young Dreams” was launched in 2018 by the Silk Road Cities Alliance. This year, the 2nd "Silk Road & Young Dreams" has gained strong supports fromdiplomatic missions to China, Chinese and foreign cultural institutions and partner organizations. Young friends from all over the world have participated actively, including more than 300 young people from 70 countries in five continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, America and Oceania. 

This event has been strongly supported by many worldwide celebrities. Mr. D'Alema, former Prime Minister of Italy, sent a congratulation message. Mr.Yuriy Ivanovych Yekhanurov, former Prime Minister of Ukraine, Mr. Mikhail Lemontov, former Deputy Minister of Russian Ministry of Culture, Mr. Tobien Kavasbo, President of International Academy of Ceramics UNESCO, and Mr. Ferenc Cako, the Hungarian sand animation master and other guests attended the event to share their experience and wisdom with young people. More than 40 diplomatic envoys to China from Pakistan, Bahrain, Greece, Croatia, Bulgaria, Sri Lanka and the Maldives were present to cheer for their outstanding contestants. 

Young people along the silk road and delegates from all fields, in total, more than 300 people attended this event, such as Mr. Lv Fengding, former Deputy Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Office and former ambassador ofChina to Sweden, Mr. Li Xikui, Secretary General of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Mr. Yuan Zhibing, Secretary General of the China NGO Network for International Exchanges, Mrs. ZhangYanling, Honorary President of the Silk Road Cities Research Institute, Mr. Lu Shumin, former Executive Vice President of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Lu Yonghua, former Chinese Ambassador to Austria, Mr. Tan Xiaoping, leader of Hunan Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau and Minister of the Ministry of United Front Work Department, Mr. Zhou Daihui, Secretary of the Taoyuan County Committee of Changsha of Hunan province, Mr. Pang Bo, the head of the Taoyuan County, Mr. Jin Fei, President of Beijing Theatre Arts Commentary Society, and Mr. Weng Xiang, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of China Youth Daily. 

The reason why the organizers of Silk Road & Young Dreams arranged this event in mid-April is that they regard Silk Road & Young Dreams as alead-in of the Belt & Road Forum for International Cooperation, which will be held in Beijing later this month. Six years since the proposal of the Beltand Road Initiative has seen more and more cooperation, enlargement of participating countries, and rich fruits. It can be predicted that the 2nd Belt & Road Forum for International Cooperation will lead to better international cooperation of the Belt and Road. Thus it raises requirements that people along the Belt and Road, especially young people, should develop exchanges, cooperation, trust, and heart-to-heart connections. Only when their hearts are connected, can we work with joint efforts more smoothly and reap more fruitful achievements. 

The young people of the “Belt and Road” are a group of dream-chasers. The organizers lead young people to realize their dreams with the direction of peace,prosperity, openness, green, innovation, and civilization, through activities of speech, music, photography, sand painting, e-sports, injecting new impetus into the construction of a community with shared future for mankind along the Belt and Road. 

The Silk Road & Young Dreams of this year highlights the theme of "Belt and Road, People-oriented”, focusing on finding touching stories from specific cooperation projects and vivid examples. Chinese and foreign youths are very interested in this topic, which has attracted the active participation of large enterprises such as China Construction Bank Corporation, Bank of China, Harbin Electric International Co., Ltd. (HEI), and China National Building Materials Group Corporation (CNBM) through recommending outstanding young people from the Belt and Road to show the brilliance of youth of Chinese state-owned enterprises. 

During the three-day event, in addition to various competitions, “Silk Road Youth Carnival” was also held in light of the event, as well as a tour of the historical sites in Beijing, and other cultural events such as fresh tea tasting. Silk Road Youth Beijing Initiative was published as a new way to explore exchange and cooperation among young people.