The inaugural APEC Study Centers Consortium Youth Scholars Forum opens at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen on May 7.
The first APEC Study Centers Consortium Youth Scholars Forum opened at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen on May 7, marking the first academic forum dedicated exclusively to young scholars in APEC's 37-year history. The event is a core program of "APEC China Year 2026."
The two-day forum, running under the banner "Shaping New Drivers for Development: Youth, Innovation and a Sustainable Future", brought together young scholar representatives from 13 APEC economies, along with senior APEC Secretariat officials.
Eduardo Pedrosa, executive director of the APEC Secretariat, noted that APEC's 21 member economies account for 37 percent of the global population and contribute around 61 percent of GDP. He said young scholars represent a wave of innovation that will inject new momentum into an open, dynamic and resilient Asia-Pacific future.
Xu Yangsheng, president of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), delivers a speech.
Four parallel sub-forums were also held, covering AI and the digital economy, young people’s role in regional economic integration, education transformation in the AI era, and youth perspectives on a sustainable future. On May 8, participants were due to visit leading tech enterprises in Shenzhen for field research and dialogue, gaining firsthand insight into the city's innovation ecosystem.
