Enhancing China-India youth ties

The youth are the most active, dynamic, and promising force in all countries, especially in China and India. Both President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have attached great importance to the role of Gen Z and Gen Alpha in developing our countries and reaching centenary goals. Bilaterally and internationally, mutual understanding and friendly exchanges of the youth play a vital role in the healthy development of ties. #### The Chinese youth In China, young people have long been the vanguard in pursuing national dreams. In the past century of upheavals and changes, China’s youth have remained a staunch force in contributing to the country and serving the people. Today, young people enjoy better living and development conditions given China’s high-quality growth. In 2023, China’s nine-year compulsory education achieved a consolidation rate of 95.7%; in 2024, its university enrolment rate reached 60.8%, with around 40% of the students enrolled in STEM programmes. During the 14th Five-Year period, millions of people received online college education, and over 50% of young workers have taken vocational training. Between 1978 and 2024, around 7.43 million Chinese students completed their studies abroad; of them, more than 6.44 million had returned to China. Unlike the pre-1990s binary of ‘farmers’ and ‘workers’, young people in China today have diverse career choices. The service industry has increasingly attracted young workers, accounting for nearly half of the total employment in recent years. Rapid science and technology innovation and social transformation have turned high-tech sectors, non-public entities, and new social organisations into the main channels for employment. Young people are increasingly engaged in the digital economy and IT-based business and platforms, such as e-sports players, live-streaming hosts, and web writers. Liang Wenfeng, from Gen Z, led his young team to found the quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer and the open AI model DeepSeek. China’s space station, Tiangong, hosts young crews of astronauts in their 30s and 40s. In creative industries such as culture, sports, and entertainment, young people account for more than half the workforce, and are at the helm of many unicorn and gazelle companies. The youth have also played a significant role in China’s strategic projects, transporting electricity from western to eastern regions, diverting water from the south to the north, and constructing milestone facilities such as deep-sea submersibles, quantum science satellite, and the lunar and Mars probes. China’s youth uphold the belief that the world is a community with a shared future. As China’s opening-up policy grows in both depth and scope, its youth are actively embracing the world, drawing inspiration from the achievements of other civilisations, and pursuing greater integration with the rest of the world. They are more confident and self-reliant in studying, working, and travelling abroad. China and India have the world’s largest youth populations. We have not only the largest number of students on campus, but also the highest numbers of students studying abroad. Over the years, our young leaders in business and trade have played a key role in strengthening economic and trade ties.Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese and Indian youth were engaged in frequent exchanges in fields such as education, culture, arts, sports, and the media under various cultural and people-to-people exchange mechanisms. In November 2025, the Chinese Consulate General in Mumbai held photo exhibitions on the Indian Youth Delegation’s 2024 Visit to China at St. Xavier’s College and Somaiya Vidyavihar University. Themed ‘Beyond borders, between hearts’, the photos retold the stories of young Indians in China, especially focusing on their interactions with Chinese peers. These events have drawn the attention of thousands of students. #### Development of ties We have already seen many strong and positive signals. The successful Kazanand Tianjin meetings between President Xi and Prime Minister Modiin 2024 and 2025 have led to a steady and continuous improvement in ties. In the first nine months of 2025, China-India bilateral trade grew 11.95% year-on-year to $104 billion, and in November, India’s export of goods to China increased 90% year-on-year to $2.2 billion, making China the third largest export destination for Indian goods. China resumed the pilgrimage for the Indian people to the sacred Mount Gang Renpoche and Lake Mapam Yun Tso in Xizang’s Ngari Prefecture and India resumed tourist visas issuance to Chinese citizens. Several direct flights between the Chinese mainland and India have been resumed, and in 2026 we are seeing more flight lines. China’s famous pianist, Lang Lang, performed in India recently, enhancing cultural exchanges between Chinese and Indian artists. More than 100 years ago, the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore told Indian parents, “Don’t limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time.” In China, Chairman Mao said to the youth in 1957, “The world is yours, as well as ours, but in the final sense, it is yours. You young people, full of vigour and vitality, are in the bloom of life, like the sun at eight or nine in the morning.” In pursuing the modernisation dreams of our two countries, we are glad to see more fruitful exchanges between our young generations. Qin Jie, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Mumbai Published - January 21, 2026 01:17 am IST ### Related Topics India-China