The 7th National Youth AI Innovation Challenge kicked off on Aug 24 in Tongxiang, a county-level city of Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, with nearly 7,000 talented youngsters from across China, including Hong Kong and Macao, competing in the national finals over two days.

The finals began at the Wuzhen Light of Internet Expo Center. The event was also attended by leaders from the China Youth and Children Development Service Center and local officials from Jiaxing and Tongxiang.

Despite being a youth competition, the event's scope and required skills rival those of adult contests. The finalists, selected from over 120,000 participants, are the nation's top young innovators.

At 9 am on Aug 24, nine special in-person competitions started simultaneously. In the Space Elevator Engineering Design contest, participants meticulously adjusted their space elevators, creating advanced designs and completing stress tests. Meanwhile, the Polar Resource Exploration contest saw teams piloting robots to explore deep-sea environments for valuable resources.

Today's youth, adept at using technology, showcased their skills in various competitions. For instance, third-grader Li Jinyu from Beijing innovatively modified his robot's clip orientation to improve its performance in the Smart City Theme Design contest.

The event aims to focus on youth development and integrate education, technology, and talent system reforms. It seeks to cultivate innovative spirit and abilities in young people, contributing to building a strong country in science and technology.

Editor: Xu Zhitian