The APEC Youth Innovation Summit 2018 opened on August 23 in Chengdu with the theme of "Usher in a new era for Asia-Pacific region: Our mission." The summit was attended by some 120 Chinese youths competing to become the 2018 APEC Voices of the Future delegates, as well as APEC officials, senior Chinese officials, business leaders and university representatives.

Participants discussed through keynote speeches and panel discussions how young people can maximize their influence in the fields of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, education and public welfare under the four topics of: "Technology creates the future," "Education, not just within campus," "Industry innovation: Opportunities and challenges for young people in traditional industries," and "Why do young people want to join in public welfare."

The mission of APEC Voices of the Future China, which was launched in 2008, is to select the APEC Voices youth representatives from China and to train competitive talents in various fields for China. 

Antonio Basilio, executive director of the International Secretariat of APEC Business Advisory Council, said that the APEC Voices program is a signature feature of the annual APEC Summit. 

Basilio continued, "The program provides the opportunity and platform for 130 young leaders and educators from the 21 APEC Economies to attend the ABAC Meetings and the APEC CEO Summit, which is also organized by the ABAC host, to interact with policy makers."

Co-Chair of APEC Voices of the Future James Soh spoke highly of the quality of the APEC Voices of Future leaders from China.

"The selection of Chinese youth representatives to the annual APEC Voices summit is not an easy task. Participants have to go through multiple competitions before reaching the finals when organizers are selecting from the best of the best to represent China at the end of the APEC Voices program held in conjunction with the APEC Leaders' Meeting."

Gou Yue, a contestant in this year's selection from the No. 1 Middle School of Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, said that as a grade one high school student, it is a very precious opportunity to communicate with so many talented peers from different backgrounds.

"My hometown is an inland city. There weren't many chances for us to attend international activities of this kind. I really learnt a lot during this short period."

This year's APEC Voices of the Future attracted 107,000 Chinese youth applicants from 1,691 universities and colleges around the world. 120 participants made their way to the finals after many rounds of deliberation and ten of them will stand out in the seven-day final round. 

The summit is co-hosted by the China Chamber of International Commerce and the APEC Business Advisory Council, and was organized by APEC Voices of the Future China, JD-Young (JD.com Inc's campus finance unit) and youth.cn, the official website under the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) Central Committee. 

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