How should young people embark on their own journeys in this era? In today's China, young employees of state-owned enterprises have provided a resounding answer through their actions. On the path to promoting high-quality economic development, a group of daring and proactive youth have dedicated themselves to the vast fields of new energy, emerging industries, and advanced equipment. Their footprints can be found deep in the deserts, at the forefront of scientific research, and in manufacturing plants, allowing the flowers of youth to take root and bloom where the country needs them most.
Choosing a direction often determines one's future path. For some young people, it is the decision to gain experience at the grassroots level that has given them a clear direction in life. In Santanghu Town, Balikun Kazakh Autonomous County, Hami City, Xinjiang, rows of wind turbines over a hundred meters tall stand on the endless Gobi Desert, while dark photovoltaic panels shimmer like the surface of the sea. This is China's first "sand, Gobi, and desert" new energy transmission base—the Xinjiang Tianshan North Slope Gobi Large Wind and Solar Power Base, where new energy installations account for over 70% of the total capacity, delivering more than 21.6 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually to Chongqing.
When construction began in 2023, the area was desolate for dozens of kilometers. That year, dozens of university graduates from across the country packed their bags and ventured into the desert, forming a youth task force dedicated to overcoming challenges in the "sand, Gobi, and desert" base. With an average age of only 28, they all made the same choice: to advance westward and shoulder the responsibility of ensuring national energy security. "We knew it would be tough and tiring, but the sweat we shed contributes to safeguarding national energy security, and we embrace it willingly," said Ma Zijian, a member of the youth task force at Huadian Tianshan Power Generation Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Huadian Xinjiang Company.
By the end of 2025, China's cumulative installed capacity of wind and solar power is expected to exceed 1.8 billion kilowatts. The transformation of the new energy industry is profoundly reshaping the global energy landscape and supply chain system, creating employment opportunities across the entire chain—from planning and design, equipment manufacturing, to construction, operation, and maintenance. More young people, like the members of the youth task force, are finding paths to realize their life values on the frontlines of energy supply.
Only by keeping the nation's greater good in mind can one move forward steadily and go far. For young people, the grassroots level is where they can realize themselves and pour their passion into their dreams. As industrial upgrading and national strategic planning continue to advance, the landscape at the grassroots level is undergoing profound changes. Positions that were once overlooked have now become hubs for new technologies and industries, opening up vast opportunities for young people to showcase their talents.
Looking back today, members of the Luo Yang Youth Task Force for Hydrogen-Powered Drones at AVIC Chengdu Aircraft Industrial (Group) Co., Ltd., born in the 1990s, admit that everything has exceeded their initial expectations. "At first, we explored hydrogen-powered drones because the domestic market was still a blue ocean. We never imagined that this long-endurance, quiet hybrid hydrogen-powered drone would reach the productization stage, let alone encounter the wave of the low-altitude economy," said Tang Peng, a team member who graduated from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.
Since 2022, they have started from scratch to explore hydrogen power technology. Today, they have developed a product-level drone that integrates hydrogen, lithium batteries, and solar energy—a "three-in-one" energy system—setting a domestic record for a long-endurance, quiet hybrid hydrogen-powered drone with a continuous flight time of 30 hours. Now, their drones are not only making significant contributions in domestic fields such as forest patrols but have also become a shining "Chinese name card" in the low-altitude economy sector.
With the right opportunities, one can soar to great heights. As the Luo Yang Youth Task Force for Hydrogen-Powered Drones sends their aircraft into the sky time and again, they themselves are also riding the wave of this era. According to predictions by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the market size of China's low-altitude economy is expected to exceed 35 trillion yuan by 2035. Below a thousand meters, opportunities are limitless. This blue ocean of employment is opening its arms to young people, waiting for them to explore infinite possibilities in this vast world.
The grassroots level has always been the best classroom for honing talent and forging backbone. By immersing themselves in their roles, enduring solitude, and delving deep into their work, young people cultivate exceptional skills through day-to-day perseverance. In the heavy-duty gas turbine manufacturing workshop located in Deyang, Sichuan, the precision casting production line operates around the clock. The young members of Dongfang Turbine's precision casting technology team repeatedly optimize parameters to ensure that the turbine blades of heavy-duty gas turbines can withstand the challenges of high temperatures, high pressure, high rotational speeds, and high corrosion during operation.
"Turbine blades are the core components of gas turbines. Previously, we were constrained by foreign technology. Their complexity and the lengthy precision casting process, with over 160 interrelated factors, meant we had to find the optimal solution amidst contradictions," said team member Zhang Qiongyuan. Upon learning that Dongfang Electric Group was establishing a laboratory in Deyang to tackle "bottleneck" technological challenges, a group of ambitious young graduates from Tsinghua University, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, and other institutions flocked to the opportunity. For over a decade, they dedicated their youth and passion to the laboratory and workshop, determined to overcome this challenge in the equipment manufacturing industry.
After more than ten years of relentless research, in 2020, China's first independently developed F-class 50-megawatt heavy-duty gas turbine (G50) achieved full-load operation for the first time. In 2023, this model successfully connected to the grid for power generation and officially entered commercial operation. Zhang Qiongyuan still remembers the day the G50 achieved full-load operation, when team members embraced each other in tears, followed by a steady stream of awards and achievements. "It felt like a breath we had been holding in our chests was finally released. For researchers, there is no greater sense of accomplishment than seeing their work bear fruit," he said.
A strong youth makes a strong nation, and capable youth drive development. From super projects that lay the foundation for development to technological breakthroughs that open up future pathways, from safeguarding people's livelihoods to serving the broader national mission, state-owned enterprises shoulder significant responsibilities and build platforms, attracting generations of young students to devote themselves to the grassroots level and pursue their dreams. They are writing a youthful chapter on the questionnaire of the times, one that is worthy of their youth and their mission.
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