How China's youth are being educated to end hunger

Editor's note: Jing Wenkai, a special commentator for CGTN, is the deputy director of the Cyrus Tang Center for Student Global Development at Tsinghua University. He led the Tsinghua team at the recently concluded Fifth World Food Forum in Rome. Li Mingyue is a master's student at Tsinghua University's School of Journalism and Communication. The article reflects the authors' opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

At the Fifth World Food Forum in Rome held last month, amid a global conversation on hunger, one group stood out – not policymakers or CEOs, but students.

The young innovators from China weren't just sharing ideas; they were presenting working models that connected technology, education, and rural transformation. Their story indicated a larger truth: China owes its progress in eliminating hunger and poverty as much to its classrooms as to its farms.

From learning to leading

In China, education has been prioritized by the government as a driver of social innovation over the past few decades. Since 2012, the country has significantly expanded its rural education infrastructure – by 2021 it had renovated 108,000 compulsory education schools in impoverished areas, and by 2023, achieved 100 percent internet connectivity in primary and secondary schools. Simultaneously, from 2012 to 2021, the vocational education system produced 61 million skilled graduates.

The online-learning ecosystem also expanded. By the end of 2020, 342 million users had engaged in online education services. These efforts helped create a generation fluent in both technology and social responsibility – young people who see development not as charity, but as collaboration.

At Tsinghua University, education increasingly means global application. The Cyrus Tang Center for Student Global Development serves as a bridge between campus and the world, preparing students to participate meaningfully in international organizations, global governance, and sustainable development initiatives. Through immersive fieldwork, multilateral engagement, and interdisciplinary training, the students learn how to translate classroom knowledge into real-world impact – developing both global competence and a sense of shared responsibility.

Innovation rooted in education

This educational model was in plain view at the WFF side event "Youth at the Forefront: Advancing Technology for Sustainable Agrifood Systems."

Tsinghua graduate student Noé Gabriel Alexandre Michon unveiled an AI-powered pest-detection tool that lets farmers photograph a leaf and instantly identify any disease it might have. The target is early detection to prevent crop losses that can reach up to 40 percent in major staples worldwide. The difference it can make bears directly on over 670 million people who faced hunger in 2024.  

Another young entrepreneur, Leng Wei, introduced a drone-and-sensor irrigation system; meta-analyses show such precision irrigation can reduce irrigation water use by about 35 percent on average while boosting yields by around 12 percent, a crucial gain given that agriculture still consumes about 62 percent of China's freshwater withdrawals.

These projects show how education translates into impact. The innovations were not born solely in labs, but within classrooms and programs designed to teach problem-solving, collaboration and public purpose. The students who write code also work with rural cooperatives and local governments to test and scale their solutions. In this way, China's education system is functioning as an incubator for social innovation.

Scaling ideas, sharing knowledge

At the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome, Tsinghua University's "Rural-Innovation+" exhibition presented student-created cultural and creative works that reimagined rural traditions through design and storytelling. By transforming local heritage into creative expression, the exhibition illustrated how education nurtures cultural confidence and global vision – an approach that complements China's broader strategy of linking innovation, culture, and sustainable development.

This model aligns closely with China's broader strategy. The fourth plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee emphasized accelerating agricultural modernization and placing the "Three Rural Issues" – agriculture, rural areas, and farmers – at the heart of national policy. Education is the mechanism that turns these policy visions into local results.

The synergy extends beyond China's borders. In July 2025, China hosted the 2025 World Youth Development Forum, drawing around 500 young participants from over 100 countries and regions and 17 international organizations, underscoring its evolving role as a hub for global youth dialogue. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), China's energy consumption per unit of GDP fell by 11.6 percent in 2021-2024, creating new opportunities for green jobs and agri-tech innovation. 

The next chapter: Educating for equity

As global challenges become more complex – from climate change to resource scarcity – the question is not whether youth can contribute, but how we can equip them to do so effectively. Based on China's experience, three lessons stand out.

First, access to quality education should be broadened. The digital divide remains a barrier for rural and low-income youth worldwide. Expanding vocational and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education, together with online platforms, can give more young people the skills to participate in modern food systems.

Second, stronger bridges should be built between universities and society. Educational institutions should be more than degree-granting bodies – they should act as local development hubs. Partnerships between universities, governments and industry can turn student projects into scalable enterprises.

Last but not least, youth innovation should be financed sustainably. Many young innovators face a "valley of death" between prototype and implementation. Micro-grants, youth innovation funds and impact-investment programs can provide the continuity needed to turn passion into policy.

From Rome to rural fields

The FAO's grand hall in Rome has a Latin inscription: Fiat panis, which translates to "Let there be bread." For the Chinese students presenting there, that phrase was not metaphorical – it was a mission statement. They represented a generation shaped by a national commitment to education, innovation and collective well-being.

The story of China's youth reminds us that solving hunger and poverty is not simply about technology or aid. It is about teaching people to think critically, to act collectively, and to design solutions that are both local and global. As one student put it, "We are not only learning science, we are learning responsibility."

As nations search for new pathways to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, China's experience offers a valuable lesson: When education and empowerment align, youth become more than beneficiaries of progress – they become its architects. And in a world still struggling to feed itself, that may be the most important innovation of all.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on X, formerly Twitter, to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)