Representatives of the Chinese Communist Youth League and Young Pioneers wave the Chinese national flag and the flag of the Communist Party of China at a ceremony marking the CPC's centennial at Tian'anmen Square in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua

Carrying the trust of 73 million league members and 4 million league organizations across the country, more than 1,500 delegates to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) have gathered in Beijing to attend the youth gala.

The CYLC, an aid to and reserve force of the Communist Party of China (CPC), will convene its 19th national congress from June 19 to 22 in Beijing,according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The congress will hear and examine a report delivered by the 18th CYLC Central Committee, amend the CYLC Constitution and elect the 19th CYLC Central Committee, Xinhua reported.

The congress will fully implement the guiding principles established at the 20th CPC National Congress, mobilize and guide CYLC members to strive in unity to build China into a modern socialist country and advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts.

On Friday, the list of delegates to the 19th CYLC National Congress was officially released, with 1,535 delegates elected to attend the congress. The average age of the delegates is 31.3 years. Among them, grassroots front-line delegates account for 71.7 percent and female delegates account for 40.5 percent.

Delegates must meet strict criteria - they must have firm ideals and convictions, high political quality, a good style of conduct, outstanding work performance and a strong deliberative ability.

The CYLC had more than 73.58 million members at the end of 2022, according to statistics released by the CYLC Central Committee in May. 

The 19th CYLC National Congress is a key congress held at a critical moment for China to march toward the second centennial goal, and also the first national congress for the CYLC after the 20th CPC National Congress. 

It is of great significance to mobilize and lead hundreds of millions of young people across the country to rally more closely around the CPC Central Committee, to build a modern socialist country in all respects, and advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts.

The congress will summarize the achievements and progress made in the construction and work of the league in the past five years, and analyze the outstanding challenges and shortcomings faced by the league. 

Also, it will deeply expound the historical mission of the contemporary youth, and in light of the new situation and new tasks, it will issue a call to the majority of young people to be confident and self-reliant, take responsibility for struggle, unite as one, and be open and inclusive.

Among the delegates to the 19th CYLC National Congress, there are young professionals who have devoted themselves to rural revitalization and outstanding females who were on the front-lines of the fight against COVID-19.

Liang Botong, 31, secretary-general of the Student Union of North China Electric Power University and secretary of the league branch of the teaching staff, has devoted himself to supporting education for students in remote and poor areas for about 10 years. Liang told the Global Times on Sunday that during his tenure as the person in charge of the university's public welfare activity, which supports children in less-developed areas including Shunping county in North China's Hebei Province, he has mobilized hundreds of volunteers, and conducted hundreds of academic counseling sessions, scientific popularization events and other activities for children in less-developed areas.

Liang said that being able to participate in the congress, he is deeply proud of his mission and takes great responsibility, and will earnestly fulfill his duties as a delegate, bring the spirit of the congress back to Hebei and pass it on to the youth around him.

In the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, Xiong Wanyin volunteered as a nurse in the cardiovascular department of a hospital in Zhenfeng county, Southwest China's Guizhou Province, becoming the youngest member of the fifth batch of medical teams from Guizhou to Central China's Hubei Province. After a short period of training, Xiong excellently completed the anti-epidemic tasks with high-quality nursing services in a local makeshift hospital in Wuhan.

Hu Baijing, a vice president of Renmin University of China and deputy director of the Steering Committee for Journalism and Communication Teaching of the Ministry of Education, is also one of the delegates to the 19th CYLC National Congress. 

Hu is deeply engaged in communication, and has published more than 20 representative papers. He has won the second prize of excellent national education achievement award and won the title of Beijing Young Famous Teacher in 2019.

Young scholar Zhan Jianfeng, who was born after 1995, will attend the congress as a representative of the Jiangsu provincial delegation.

Zhan, an engineer at the China Ship Scientific Research Center, was the designer of the control system and main pilot of Yulong, China's deep-sea manned submersible, the China Youth Daily reported. He said he would work with more other young professionals to accelerate the construction of a powerful country in science and technology, and realizing self-reliance in science and technology.