Participants at the 2018 Youth Innovation Competition on Global Governance visit farms and fields on Chongming Island, Shanghai, as part of the competition on July 17. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Students from many countries participate in the 2018 Youth Innovation Competition on Global Governance in Shanghai, and share their ideas on sustainable development, Xu Xiaomin reports.

With the rapid progress of urbanization globally, rural life is becoming increasingly foreign to many young people.

According to the UN World Urbanization Prospects 2018 report, 68 percent of the global population will reside in cities in 2050, a big jump from the current 55 percent.

In light of such circumstances, 73 students from 44 countries gathered in Shanghai earlier this month for the 2018 Youth Innovation Competition on Global Governance, where they shared their ideas on sustainable development in rural areas.

Organized by the School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University and sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme in China, the week-long annual event－it was launched in 2007 by Fudan－is a platform for youngsters from various countries to discuss pressing global issues and how the world can tackle the challenges.

This year, the competition took place on Shanghai's Chongming Island, the largest estuarine alluvial island in the world, and featured a theme that echoed China's strategy for rural revitalization that was put forward in the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.