The 2019 Asia-Pacific Forum on Youth Leadership, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship opens on Nov 4 in Guangzhou. [Photo by Liao Xueming/dayoo.com]

The 2019 Asia-Pacific Forum on Youth Leadership, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship opened on Nov 4 in Guangzhou, discussing hot issues like youth innovation and entrepreneurship, youth's roles in sustainable development, as well as rural revitalization.

Co-organized by the All-China Youth Federation and the United Nations Development Programme, the forum has gathered about 200 entrepreneurship education experts, venture capital agency representatives, and entrepreneurial youths from 30 countries in the Asia-Pacific area.

It is expected that the forum can promote communication and cooperation among youths in the Asia-Pacific area, as well as boost joint development.

Keynote speeches were given during the forum by industrial talents like Wei Zhe, founding partner of Vision Knight Capital, Du Lan, senior vice president of iFlytek, and He Xiaopeng, chairman of Xpeng, to share their latest research achievements, as well as their experiences in innovation and entrepreneurship.

"With the development of globalization and digitization, our society has been facing huge challenges. Therefore, we urge to improve youth entrepreneurship. More job opportunities will be brought by entrepreneurship, which can help people to prepare for the challenging and constantly changing job market," said Ulrike Guelich, assistant professor of the School of Entrepreneurship and Management at Bangkok University.

An exchange program, led by the Guangzhou Youth Federation and the Guangzhou Young Entrepreneurs Association, was launched during the forum.

The program aims to become a bridge and platform for youths in the Asia-Pacific area who start innovation and entrepreneurship projects in Guangzhou, offering support in areas spanning resource sharing, policy recommendations, and communication.