On the afternoon of August 13, a 45-member delegation of Silk Road and Young Dreams, visited Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China (RDCY). The members are from 20 Silk Road countries and regions including Sri Lanka, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Egypt and Tanzania. The two sides conducted in-depth study and discussion on topics such as the “Belt and Road” and global youth exchange. The meeting was hosted by Yang Qingqing, director of Research Cooperation Department, and Liu Jianping, deputy director of the Research Cooperation Department, participated in the discussion.

Firstly, director Yang Qingqing, on behalf of Wang Wen, Executive Dean of RDCY, expressed warm welcome to the arrival of the delegation. She shared RDCY’s research results and international influence over the past five years and stressed the important role of think tanks in international youth friendly exchanges. Then Du Minghao, the executive secretary of the Silk Road Cities Alliance, said in his speech that he hopes that these young friends from all over the world can learn more in China and have a more real feeling for China, and Inspire their future career through the exchange with think tank.

Chen Xiaochen, director of the International Studies Department of RDCY, explained the origin and basic meaning of the “Belt and Road” for the delegation. He said that the “Belt and Road” is a multilateral cooperation development model initiated by China and an inclusive process of globalization.

Cheng Cheng, an associate researcher of Industrial Research Department of RDCY, shared his understanding for the “Belt and Road” and “Global Value Chain” from the perspective of development economics. He stressed that it is especially important to pay attention to cooperation with African countries and encourage more young people to actively participate in the "Belt and Road" construction and China-African cooperation and exchange.

During the Q&A session, the two sides conducted a lively discussion on the topics such as how to encourage the youth to participate more in the people to people exchange related to the “Belt and Road”, strengthen cooperation with think tanks, and the relationship between the “Belt and Road” and the World Trade Organization. The meeting ended in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

As a large-scale international youth exchange event held in Beijing on August 11-14, Silk Road and Young Dreams was organized by China's Silk Road Cities Alliance, Beijing Belt and Road cooperative community, RDCY and other Chinese and international institutions, inviting young people from the countries and pivot cities along the “Belt and Road” to showcase their talents in the competition of speech, music and photography, so as to share their voices and visions of the Belt and Road Initiative. The event aims to promote young generation’s exchanges and lay a solid foundation for the long-term development of the “Belt and Road”.