Youth Challenge

As a world-renowned top-tier institution with global influence, Tsinghua University bears both the responsibility and the mission to contribute to global poverty alleviation efforts. By leveraging its academic influence, extensive partnerships, specialized research, and innovative practices, Tsinghua seeks to promote international youth cooperation in the field of poverty alleviation. In 2024, Tsinghua University Latin American Center, Research Center for China-Latin America Management Studies, SEM, Tsinghua University; Center for Global Competence Development at Tsinghua University collaborated with Latin American university partners successfully launched and implemented the “China-Latin America Youth Responding to Global Challenges —— 2024 Poverty Alleviation Challenge” program in China, Brazil, and Chile. This initiative sparked a wave of university-led poverty alleviation dialogues across China and Latin America. 

In November 2024, during President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Brazil for the 19th G20 Leaders’ Summit, Tsinghua University Party Secretary Qiu Yong signed a cooperation agreement with the President of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro on the “China-Latin America Youth Responding to Global Challenges” program. This agreement was included in the outcomes of Xi Jinping's visit and became a significant example of China-Latin America collaboration. It has also been acclaimed by mainstream media in both regions as “a youthful force in global governance.”

On the morning of November 20, local time, President Xi Jinping held talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the Palácio da Alvorada, the official residence of the President of Brazil, in Brasília. (Photo by Li Xueren, Xinhua News Agency)

As President Xi Jinping traveled to Rio de Janeiro to attend the 19th G20 Leaders’ Summit and pay a state visit to Brazil, Qiu Yong, Secretary of the CPC Tsinghua University Committee, led a delegation to Brazil from November 17 to 21, local time. On behalf of Tsinghua University, he signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the “China - Latin America Youth Responding to Global Challenges” Program with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro(Portuguese: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ) in Brazil. As one of more than 30 bilateral cooperation documents signed between the two sides during President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Brazil, this MoU was included in the outcomes of the state visit.

The “China - Latin America Youth Responding to Global Challenges” Program aims to pool the strength of young people from China and Latin America to jointly address poverty and other challenges in the field of sustainable development. The “Poverty Alleviation Challenge”, a core component of the Program, was initiated by Tsinghua University. The first session was co - hosted by Tsinghua University, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro(Portuguese: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ) in Brazil and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile（Spanish: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile), contributing wisdom to the cause of poverty reduction in developing countries around the world and promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. In the future, the Program will continue to expand its scale and the number of participating youth, extend its themes to sustainable development issues beyond poverty reduction, and produce more achievements in civilizational exchanges through joint competitions, joint courses, joint research and other activities, so as to contribute to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Qiu Yong (second from right) in a group photo with Brazil’s Minister of Education Santana (second from left) and other attendees

Qiu Yong and Alban, President of the National Confederation of Industry of Brazil, Reach Consensus on Deepening Cooperation

Tsinghua University and the University of São Paulo (Portuguese: Universidade de São Paulo ) Sign a Memorandum of Understanding

Tsinghua University and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) Sign a Memorandum of Understanding

During the visit, Qiu Yong reached a consensus with Camilo Sobreira de Santana, Brazil’s Minister of Education, on strengthening cooperation between Tsinghua University and Brazilian universities and institutions. He signed a memorandum with Ricardo Alban, President of the National Confederation of Industry of Brazil (CNI), on deepening bilateral cooperation in education, science and technology, as well as economy and trade. He also signed university-level memorandums of understanding with the University of São Paulo, the Federal University of Ceará and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). In addition, he attended the Tsinghua University - National Confederation of Industry of Brazil Symposium and the China-Brazil Symposium on Developing the Bioindustry to Boost Sustainable Development. Qiu strived to give play to the leading role of higher education, push for an upgrade in the quality of cooperation between Tsinghua University and Brazil in education, scientific research, cultural and people-to-people exchanges and other fields, and contribute Tsinghua’s strength to building a China-Brazil Community with a Shared Future for a More Just World and a More Sustainable Planet.

Tsinghua University attaches great importance to cooperation with Brazil and other Latin American countries. In 2010, with the support of the two governments, the China-Brazil Joint Research Center for Climate Change and Energy Technology Innovation was established, with offices set up at Tsinghua University and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) respectively. The center has now become an important platform for educational, scientific and technological, and cultural exchanges between China, Brazil and other Latin American countries in the field of clean energy and climate change. In 2015, building on the previous cooperation of the center and with the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Tsinghua University took the lead to establish the China-Latin America Joint Laboratory for Clean Energy and Climate Change, with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) as the responsible institution on the Latin American side. The laboratory has been recognized as a National International Science and Technology Cooperation Base by the Ministry of Science and Technology. In 2018, Tsinghua University founded the Latin America Center in Santiago, the capital of Chile, which is committed to building an integrated exchange platform for government departments, academic circles, think tanks and enterprises from China and Latin America. Relying on the center, the event "Ambassadors of Latin America and the Caribbean to China Gather at Tsinghua" has been held for four consecutive sessions, and the Poverty Alleviation Camp has provided a platform for young people from China and Latin America to pool their wisdom and work together to solve problems and challenges. Meanwhile, focusing on nurturing global competence, the center has built a bridge for Tsinghua teachers and students to carry out winter and summer vacation practical activities in many Latin American countries such as Chile, Brazil and the Dominican Republic.