2021 World Young Scientist Summit Photo: Courtesy of CAST

The 2021 World Young Scientist Summit (WYSS) was officially opened in Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province on Saturday. The year 2021's summit theme is "gathering the world's talent, creating a better future," the same as the previous two summits, focusing on the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and national key strategies including the Belt and Road Initiative and common prosperity, in order to exchange thoughts about climate change, life and health, digital economy and carbon neutrality.

The WYSS, co-sponsored and co-hosted by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) and the People's Government of Zhejiang Province, is an annual event for young talent from around the world, and has become one of the important international events in the field of science and technology, and an important brand for China's youth science and technology diplomacy, as well as an innovative platform to link global resources.

Alongside with the officials of the CAST and Zhejiang Province, the summit has received strong support from world-renowned scientists, academicians and young scientists from more than 50 countries, regions and international organizations. Peter Gluckman, president of the International Council for Science, together with Zhong Nanshan, China's top epidemiologist, delivered an opening address via video respectively.

Zhang Yuzhuo, a senior official from the CAST said that during the two years since the first WYSS was held, the international influence of the summit has been increasing, fostering stronger friendships among young talent from various countries. 

At present, the important role of science and technology innovation for sustainable human development has become increasingly prominent, and the scientific and technological community has assumed the responsibility for promoting human peace and development, Zhang added.

"The Summit is committed to providing young scholars from different countries, with different backgrounds and different fields of study, with opportunities for open and honest exchanges, to foster a mutually beneficial and shared innovation ecology, as well as building an open, mutually trusting and inclusive innovation community for youth," Zhang said.

The library of Wenzhou Medical University Photo: Courtesy of CAST

Wang Hao, a senior official from Zhejiang, noted that over the past two years, Zhejiang has accelerated scientific and technological innovation and institutional innovation, actively constructed a high-capacity innovation platform system, in order to attract and retain talent. 

The province will focus on the "Internet +," life and health and new materials to strengthen the core technology research and accelerate the development of high-tech industries, so as to provide a strong impetus for the high-quality development and construction of a common wealth demonstration area, Wang added.

Peter Gluckman said via video that technology needs more open international exchange and cooperation, expressing his hope that more young scientists and organizations will play a greater role.

Liu Xiaotao, a senior official from Wenzhou, said that the city takes the summit as a pivot point to seek high quality development, in order to broaden the channel of market subjects into innovation subjects, as well as turning the scientific research results into innovation energy. 

The summit will complete 47 online and offline series of activities, including the International Forum on Biodiversity Conservation and Biotechnology and the 2021 Resilient Cities International Symposium.

Following the successful hosting of the previous two summits, Wenzhou has set up an entrepreneurship fund with a total scale of 2 billion yuan ($310 million), and established a 500-acre (33.3 hectares) entrepreneurship park, in order to promote cooperation among world young scientists and entrepreneurs with mutual benefit and win-win results.

Moreover, the summit, structured around national laboratories and research institutions, plans to launch a summer school program, which will conduct academic visits and exchanges and research internships for 3 to 12 months, making use of the summer vacation or academic holidays of scholars as well as internship periods of students each year, in order to jointly cultivate more outstanding talent.