Young inventors have concluded a two-month contest in Beijing aimed at finding innovative solutions to development challenges. This year's Public Benefit International Challenge for Youth looks to deepen China's ties with Africa by generating creative ways to meet the medical, nutritional and educational needs of the continent's youth, especially those living with AIDS or in poverty. CGTN's Ma Ke has more.

Xue Yiwei and her team have just claimed the championship title at this year's Public Benefit International Challenge for Youth - an innovation contest for high school students finding creative solutions to public welfare challenges. Their secret weapon? Solar-powered school bags. With only four hours of charging through a built-in solar array, these bags can light up for eight full hours. For schoolchildren in remote areas, they can act as a lamp for studying after dark or a torchlight to light the way home from school.

XUE YIWEI, TEAM LEADER PBIC 2018 CHAMPION "SOLAR HEART" "At first, we just have two sponsors. But after two years we have about 50 members of our 'Solar Heart' team. We have already completed our project in Tibet successfully. And we have donated about 100 solar bags at first. And now we plan to provide 1,000 solar bags to Zimbabwe."

Xue's team, Solar Heart, spent months on research, design and testing. But transportation difficulties and reluctance for some local communities to accept solar products proved to be major headaches for the young inventors. Luckily, Xue got help from Zimbabwe.

XUE YIWEI, TEAM LEADER PBIC 2018 CHAMPION "SOLAR HEART" "We gained help from the First Lady of Zimbabwe Foundation. They helped us to contact the Solar International Voluntary Federation. And they helped us about the transportation and the contacting in local areas."

Like Xue, other young talents from across China have entered their innovative solutions at the contest in Beijing. From brand new basketball courts for African middle schools, to a fund for female rangers in the fight against poachers. A mosquito-preventing kit keeping malaria at bay, or a storage solution for vaccines. These teenagers have impressed the judges with the wide scope of issues their creations hope to tackle.

ROBERT LYON NEW YORK UNIVERSITY "Young people are the future of the world. And the more the young people are aware the world is bigger than their neighborhood, than their school, than their city, that's the future of the world."

This is the second PBIC contest held by the China-Africa Business Council, a civil society organization sponsored by the UN Development Program and aimed at improving Sino-African cooperation. Vice President of the Council, Wang Xiaoyong, said he hopes the event can help Chinese youth become more caring, responsible and innovative.

WANG XIAOYONG, VICE PRESIDENT CHINA-AFRICA BUSINESS COUNCIL "This year the China Africa Cooperation Forum will be held in Beijing, so we have made many efforts in promoting cultural and people-to-people exchanges."

China Country Director of UNAIDS agreed. She says youth are a vital part of people-to-people exchanges between China and African countries.

For the contest's top three winners, their triumph in Beijing is only the beginning. They'll go on to seek sponsorship to implement their projects in target countries. And for the communities helped by the solar backpacks designed by Xue and her team, the light of knowledge will continue to shine. MA Ke, CGTN.