Young entrepreneurs key force for city development

A dialogue focusing on the role young entrepreneurs playing in city's development sparked discussions among young entrepreneurs from home and abroad in Zibo city, Shandong province, on Saturday.

The G20 Young Entrepreneurs Dialogue welcomed more than 30 young talents and entrepreneurs from 13 countries to explore the mission of young entrepreneurs in city development and also what city's development will mean for young entrepreneurs.

Shahbaz Khan, director of UNESCO Office Beijing, said in a video that the youth are the center of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

"Sustainable development and peace cannot be achieved unless we engage with young people around the world to create conditions for them to reach and unleash their full potential," he said, adding that UNESCO places much emphasis on engagement of youth in building cities that are creative, sustainable and resilient.

The role of a city is to provide the best possible environment for the development of future entrepreneurs, said 27-year-old Vittoria Pesenti, general manager of Swiss Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

She added that the duty of young entrepreneurs is to initiate technological intervention that helps the city to undergo social technological transition and become smart cities.

Young people are becoming new engines for driving city's economic and innovation development, said Li Rong, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Shandong Provincial People's Government.

Li hoped that young entrepreneurs around the world will through the dialogue seize new opportunities of Shandong's opening to the outside world, actively promote trade cooperation and promote in-depth industrial integration.

Zibo, a city featured with industrial power, has paid much attention in attracting young talents to join in the city's innovation-driven, high-quality development.

In the past five years, the city has introduced more than 1,300 foreign talents to the city, and implemented 410 projects at national, provincial and municipal levels, according to Li Junjie, vice-mayor of Zibo.

Attendees for the conference also participated in a tour from Aug 12 to 14, visiting cultural spots and industrial zones in Jinan, capital city of Shandong and Zibo, which provided a platform to better learn about Shandong and China.

Liu Chuan in Zibo contributed to the story