Participants take a group photo ahead of the opening ceremony of the 2024 World Youth Development Forum in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 12, 2024.(Xinhua/Cai Yang)

The 2024 World Youth Development Forum opened in Beijing on Monday, with more than 2,000 young people from over 130 countries and 20 international organizations participating both online and on-site.

Monday marks International Youth Day. More than 500 young leaders and youth representatives gathered for the forum's opening ceremony and plenary meeting.

The participants will also tour other Chinese cities, such as Nanning and Hangzhou, in the following days and engage in discussions about green development, digital development, cultural inheritance and innovation, as well as youth development-oriented cities.At the opening ceremony, China's leading epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan, who is also an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, shared his personal growth and work experience via video.

Zhong said that young people have become the vanguard and the main force in tackling public health emergencies, be it SARS in 2003 or the more recent COVID-19 pandemic.

Zhong encouraged young people to have ideals, dream big and strive for more progress in advancing technological frontiers.

Delivering a video message, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said young people are the driving force behind the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and called for efforts to make their voices heard and empower them with education and skills.

Themed "Together for a Better Future," the event is expected to serve as an important occasion to pool youth strength for implementing both the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Global Development Initiative, according to the forum organizer.

A proposal from young people for the upcoming UN Summit of the Future was released at the event on Monday, while an international cooperation program on youth skills and entrepreneurship training was also launched.

The forum is co-hosted by the All-China Youth Federation, United Nations in China and the organizing committee of the forum. The first edition of the forum was held in 2022.