Beijing Calls for Global Cooperation on Youth Values Education
The 2026 International Forum on Youth Values Education, held in China’s capital Beijing, focused on what kind of values education young people should receive in the future. The forum, hosted by Tsinghua University, was organized under the theme “Values Education for Youth in the Future: China and the World.”
Co-hosted by Tsinghua University, Wuhan University, and Northeast Normal University, the forum brought together more than 170 academics, education officials, and practitioners from China and various countries. Participants discussed theoretical innovations, implementation models, and evaluation methods in youth values education.
Guo Yong, deputy Party secretary of Tsinghua University, said that artificial intelligence, digitalization, and the internet are radically transforming the environment in which young people grow up. Guo stated that Tsinghua University would work with Wuhan University and Northeast Normal University to deepen research on the effectiveness of youth values education.
Yu Xianting, deputy director-general of the Department of Ideological and Political Work of China’s Ministry of Education, emphasized the need to use artificial intelligence and big data to better understand young people. He also called for stronger links between research and frontline educational practices, as well as greater attention to the training of educators.
International participants also drew attention to how digitalization affects young people’s values. Christian W. Haerpfer, president of the World Values Survey Association, stressed the need for long-term and cross-cultural research in this field. At the closing ceremony, the Tsinghua Initiative for Advancing Global Values Education for Youth was launched. The initiative called for governments, schools, families, media organizations, and researchers to strengthen youth values education in response to the new challenges posed by artificial intelligence.