Cultivating ideals

Wu said the League does an important job in guiding young people's thoughts and helping them build "lofty ideals and a firm faith in the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, enhancing their trust, faith and confidence in the Party."

Nationwide, the League's organizations hold Party study activities online and offline, attracting young people, he said.

Wu added that as the younger generation uses the internet and new media a great deal, the League has opened accounts with popular social media platforms. It also produces online public courses, animations, and audio and video products for young people.

He said that by the end of 2020, the League had 120 million followers on new media platforms.

Huang Chenchen, a lecturer in youth work theory and practice studies at the Central School of Communist Youth League of China, said the CYLC Central Committee launched an online learning program in 2018 that featured videos on politics, Party history, and other topics of interest to young people.

"These videos are popular because they are narrated by young people from all over the country, who present topics in a way that is popular with their peers," Huang said, adding that some celebrities have been invited to appear in the videos.

Another learning program, the Young Marxists Training Project, was launched by the League and several departments to train young political workers for the Party who have a firm belief in Marxism and can adapt it to the Chinese context.

Studying theory and social practice, nearly 3 million people－outstanding university students and young workers from State-owned enterprises, rural areas and social organizations－have joined the program since 2007, according to official data.

"It's a program to cultivate talent that firmly believes in the Party," Huang said, adding that the systematic training usually lasts one year.

Guided by related policies, many university students who graduate from the program return to their hometowns, where they become grassroots civil servants, she said.

Inspired by the lofty ideals of communism, an increasing number of the young people have applied to join the Party and the League, according to a white paper on Chinese youth in the new era issued last month by the State Council Information Office of China.

A survey of more than 40 million members by the CYLC Central Committee at the end of last year found that 80 percent of respondents said they were more motivated to join the Party after learning about its history.

Nearly one-third of respondents said they applied to join the Party while they were learning about its history, the committee said.

Task groups formed

Huang said another important mission for the League, as a bridge connecting the Party and young people, is encouraging, guiding and organizing the latter to devote themselves to building the nation.

When there is a major public crisis such as COVID-19 and natural disasters, the League, through its organizations nationwide, quickly gathers a large number of young people to form task groups to serve on the frontline, she said.

As Shanghai battles its worst outbreak of COVID-19 to date, the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CYLC has urged young people to help contain infections and to "shine in the fight against the pandemic".

The League's organizations at all levels in Shanghai have organized more than 78,000 young people to form over 2,500 task groups to work on the frontline, providing medical care, transporting supplies, and constructing facilities, according to the city's CYLC committee.

According to official data, more than 5.5 million young people in 320,000 task groups have worked on the frontline of epidemic prevention and control in China since COVID-19 emerged.

Of the 28,600 nurses in medical teams sent to Hubei province, where the country's first COVID-19 outbreak occurred, 90 percent were born from 1980 to 1999.

During construction of the Huoshenshan and Leishenshan makeshift hospitals in Wuhan, capital of Hubei, young workers accounting for 60 percent of the required workforce established 13 task groups, the data show.

These task groups came from different sectors, including construction companies, power grid companies, the health system and civil servants, Huang said.

The task groups' red flags were hung at the construction sites.

"Such teams were established to emphasize that young people in good health and who are knowledgeable should act as the vanguard force when the country faces challenges," Huang said.

She added that young Chinese also contribute their strengths in other ways. They work in grassroots areas where conditions are hard; they are a core force for the nation's major scientific and technological tasks; and many of them are also international volunteers working in poor areas of the world.

"Young Chinese today have adhered to the tradition of arduous struggle, and countless numbers of them work hard in ordinary positions in factories, fields and at construction sites," she said.

Although young people's main tasks and roles have had a different focus over the years, they strive to achieve the same goal－the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Wu said that over the past 100 years, young people in China have shown great aspirations, deep feelings and great creativity for the country.

He said the goal of national rejuvenation will be achieved with generations of young people capable of shouldering this task contributing their efforts.