SCIO press conference on white paper 'Youth of China in the New Era'
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E-mail China.org.cn, April 27, 2022
Xing Huina:
Due to time constraints, we will have one last question.
People.cn:
The white paper specifically refers to the International Youth Sustainable Development Index Report. As far as I know, this is the first time China has released such a report on the international index ranking of youth development. What's the original intention of conducting this research? How will this research promote youth development in China? Thank you.
He Junke:
Thank you. I will answer your question. The Middle- and Long-term Youth Development Plan (2016-2025) lists 10 key areas of youth development. These key areas concerning youth development are similar in other countries, including employment, education, social participation, etc. How do we measure youth development among countries with simplicity? Drawing on the design of the Human Development Index by the United Nations Development Program, we integrated the relevant data into a concise indicator system to evaluate youth development and related policy impact in various countries. We have also noticed that organizations such as the Commonwealth Secretariat, the European Youth Forum and the Social Progress Imperative have conducted similar studies based on their own positions and information.
The main purpose of our research was to conduct an in-depth analysis of the institutional and policy factors behind the different levels of youth development in different countries and also to better learn from the good practices of other countries in the formulation of youth development policies. Since February last year, a joint project group comprising China Youth and Children Research Center, China International Youth Exchange Center, the Center for Youth Moral Education, Tsinghua University, and the Research Center for Contemporary China at Peking University has been conducting in-depth research on this issue, and the research findings were presented in the International Youth Sustainable Development Index Report 2021, which was released last year. After its release, the report has attracted some attention in various fields and has received relatively positive feedback. This is the first international comparative study of youth development published by China. In terms of research methodology, by focusing on the key areas of youth development, the research selected five primary indicators and 17 secondary indicators, involving five domains of health and living, education and culture, employment and entrepreneurship, family and society, and social participation. The data we used was publicly available and comparable worldwide. In this way, the study finally picked 85 countries for objective, fair, and balanced data processing and evaluation.
China ranks 23rd, around the top 27%, of the 85 countries, higher than its positions in per capita GDP and Human Development Index rankings, which are 34% and 45%, respectively. This shows that the level of youth development in our country is ahead of the overall level of economic and social development, which also reflects the achievement China has made by prioritizing youth development. The excess is actually due to the superiority of the Chinese system and the correctness of the philosophy of youth development. Admittedly, we have also seen that there are still gaps in the rankings in some indicators. For example, in the education and culture domain, China ranks around the top 40%, which is relatively low. This prompts us to continue to improve the availability and quality of education for young people. As for youth health, although China ranks relatively high, around the top 15%, there are still many issues such as strength and myopia. And we also need to promote social public service among our young people.
In general, we will continue to learn from the valuable experiences of other countries in the world, based on the reality of our country, guided by the youth development index, to make China's youth policy more effective. Thank you.
Xing Huina:
Thank you to all speakers and friends from the media. Today's briefing is hereby concluded. See you!
Translated and edited by Yang Xi, Liu Sitong, Xu Xiaoxuan, Zhang Rui, Zhou Jing, Wang Yanfang, Li Huiru, Chen Xia, Liu Jianing, He Shan, Qin Qi, Wang Qian, Wang Yiming, Zhu Bochen, Duan Yaying, Xu Kailin, David Ball, Jay Birbeck, and Tom Arnstein. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.
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