The Communist Party of China has combined the basic principles of Marxism with China’s social practices and the characteristics of youth, formulating a series of statements and thoughts on youth development with Chinese characteristics, and enriching the Marxist view on youth.   

Revolutionary magazine New Youth, which introduced the New Culture Movement and spread the influence of the May Fourth Movement in 1919, was launched by Chen Duxiu in Shanghai in 1915. Its editorial office was briefly based in Beijing, but relocated to Shanghai in 1920. Its site also served as the headquarters for the CPC Central Committee in the 1920s.  

In July 1921, 13 delegates, with an average age of only 28, participated in the first National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and announced the founding of the Party, an epoch-making event that sounded the clarion call for the nation’s awakening and rise. This marked the beginning of a new era of national rejuvenation for China. 

Under the CPC’s leadership, the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) was established in 1922, opening up a new chapter in the Chinese youth movement. 

The CPC has scientifically formulated the rules and regulations for China’s youth movement, continuously strengthened its political identity, and, through effective organization and mobilization, consolidated youth power into a mighty torrent of revolution, development and reform.   

The May Fourth Movement was a great patriotic and revolutionary campaign pioneered by forward- thinking young intellectuals and joined by people from all levels of society to resolutely fight imperialism and feudalism. It started with mass student protests on May 4, 1919, against the government’s response to the Treaty of Versailles that undermined China’s sovereignty following the end of World War I. On that day, more than 3,000 students from 13 Beijing colleges partook in a mass demonstration against the decision of the Paris Peace Conference to transfer the former German concessions in Shandong Province to Japan. This in turn triggered a national campaign to overthrow the old social order and promote new ideas, includ- ing science, democracy and Marxism. For one week, beginning on June 5, merchants and workers across Shanghai and other cities went on strike in support of the students. In big cities, strikes and boycotts against Japanese goods lasted more than two months. 

A patriotic student movement broke out in Peking (now Beijing) on December 9, 1935. The Kuomintang army and police suppressed the gathering of 2,000 to 3,000 students in the famous December Ninth Movement. From December 10 onward, students in large and medium cities and patriotic compatriots all over the country started showing their support for the students. On December 16, over 10,000 students once again held a demonstration in Peking. Over 20,000 people participated in a citizens’ meeting during which a resolution to oppose Japanese aggression against China was passed. The December Ninth Movement set off a new upsurge in the nationwide movement of resistance against Japanese aggression.  

Since the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression started in 1937, a vast number of patriotic young people went to Yan’an, Shaanxi Province. In the first two years, over 40,000 patriotic young people and intellectuals went to Yan’an. The CPC set up more than 30 schools for cadres around the city, created 50 to 60 newspapers and magazines, and ran more than 10 bookstores and publishing houses. The youth movement in Yan’an served as a national model. 

A Youth Civilization Unit refers to any youth team in production, operation, management and service areas recognized for a high level of professionalism and work performance. In 1987, Shenzhen took the lead in exploring the certification of the Youth Civilization Unit. Since 1994, the CYLC has carried out similar evaluations and selections around the country to guide and inspire the youth to work hard, adapt to the socialist market requirements for dedication and entrepreneurship, and to show the professionalism and spirit of the youth in overall society. 

The CPC is committed to promoting production and construction, social transformation and the people’s livelihood. It has constantly formulated and improved relevant laws and policies to lay a material foundation and provide an appropriate institution- al guarantee for the interests and growth of young people in China.  

The provisions of the Chinese Constitution concerning the education and protection of juveniles are reflected in Chapter I: General Principles and Chapter II: Fundamental Rights and Obligations of Citizens. 

In 2000, Yantai City in Shandong Province issued a local youth development program, also known as the first comprehensive policy on youth development in China. 

In April 2017, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Middle- and Long-term Youth Development Plan (2016-25). This is the first comprehensive government plan for youth development compiled and implemented at the national level since the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It has drawn the attention of both government and society to youth development. 

Considering the changing situation and phased tasks, the CPC has continuously expanded the connotations of its youth work, pooled the strength of youth and formed a basic system for youth development. 

The CYLC, the All-China Youth Federation and the All-China Students Federation have become the pillars of the Party’s professional undertakings in youth work. 

With an open worldview, the CPC has observed world youth movements, continuously strengthened international communication on youth development, and promoted the formation of a new pattern of youth diplomacy.   

In July 1938, Chairman Mao Zedong received members of the World Students Association in Yan’an, and expounded CPC’s role in the struggle against Japanese aggression, CPC strategy and the general work of the Chinese youth. 

In 1971, the U.S. national ping pong team was invited by its Chinese counterpart to visit China after meeting during the 31st World Championships in Nagoya, Japan. Later, at the invitation of the Chinese delegation, a plane carrying the U.S. ping pong team landed at an airport in Beijing on April 10, 1971. They were the first American delegation to enter China at the invitation of the government since the founding of the PRC in 1949. The Chinese team paid a return visit the following year. The mutual exchanges broke the ice built up over two decades of estranged China-U.S. relations. 

On April 21, 2022, the first white paper dedicated to youth in the history of the PRC, Youth of China in the New Era, was officially released, objectively presenting the great achievements of youth development in China since the 18th CPC National Congress. 

Through its youth work in various fields, the CPC has cultivated many young officials and brought tens of thousands of outstanding young people to the forefront, thus ensuring that the cause of both Party and country will be passed on from generation to generation. 

To meet the needs of emerging youth groups, youth league organizations at all levels, in collaboration with relevant departments, have integrated resources and provided targeted services and platforms for those young people. The CYLC has provided employment and entrepreneurial services, safeguarded the legal rights and interests of the youth and enhanced their orderly social participation. On January 20, 2022, the CYLC Hunan Provincial Committee hosted an activity to show care for young people active in the ex- press delivery industry. In recent years, the CYLC at all levels in Hunan has regularly organized such activities for delivery people, and a total 4.5 million yuan ($661,500) has been invested to carry out more than 500 activities, benefiting more than 2,300 people.  

The procedures of joining the CPC will be simplified for those determined to make bigger contributions to society. For example, Yin Shuowen, a college student in Yueyang City, Hunan Province, was recommend- ed by the Yueyang Committee of the CYLC to become a CPC member on February 25, 2020, given his volunteering efforts. In February 2020, Yin actively signed up to join the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control emergency volunteer service team initiated by the Yueyang Committee of the CYLC. Yin has since been working round the clock, checking passengers’ temperatures, checking and registering passengers’ identity information at Yueyangdong Railway Station.