Beijing launches annual youth design award program to support young talents

The 4th Beijing Youth Design Awards, a city-wide program to scout and incubate promising young designers, opened on Sunday.

This year's campaign is themed "empowering youth creativity, co-building the future of design." Open to university students and designers under 35, the program solicits innovative projects and blueprints across major areas such as urban renewal, rural revitalization, cultural heritage, and public services.

The Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League and the Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources jointly organize the program.

"By releasing design themes and the process of implementing the ideas, we have been helping the promising designers and teams connect with resources and providing comprehensive incubation services, from product planning to financing, to them," said Yu Yang, secretary-general of the event's organizing committee, and also a professor of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

A string of side events, including design exhibitions and designer exchanges, will run throughout the event, aimed at discovering young design talent and creating platforms to serve young people in emerging fields in China's capital.

The activities are also expected to build an ecosystem for the growth and development of young design talents, and promote the development of the cultural and creative industries.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday officially launched the operations of its regional center in Shanghai, China, headed by Johannes Wiegand, an IMF economist, as the director.

As one of the regional centers set up by the IMF worldwide, the IMF Shanghai Center is expected to enhance the IMF's engagement with the Asia-Pacific region, according to a statement from the IMF.

The center will serve as a hub to promote research and knowledge sharing that can inform policies in areas of relevance for emerging market and middle-income countries, said the statement.

It also aims at deepening dialogue and outreach with member countries, regional institutions, and other stakeholders in the region, according to the statement.