Notwithstanding their inherent vitality and creativity, the youth stand at a critical juncture, where their engagement is indispensable for the realization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the pursuit of collective wellbeing. Nonetheless, it is observed that the livelihoods of rural youth are invariably besieged by myriad challenges. These encompass constrained access to essential assets such as land, limited availability of inputs and services, including financial instruments, and a dearth of opportunities for skill enhancement due to educational barriers, familial obligations, and urban allure, potentially culminating in migration and unemployment.

As the Rural Revitalization Strategy has steadily been implemented in China, more and more rural young people return to their hometowns to start their businesses, and many of their urban counterparts also choose to commit themselves to rural areas. They bring back new technologies and techniques, inspire new rural occupations, integrate the development of different industries, and improve the living environment of rural residents. Practical actions prove that the youth is the pioneering force of rural vitalization. The employment and entrepreneurship of Chinese youth in rural areas can bring experience and inspiration to the development and transformation of rural areas worldwide.

The Thematic Study on Sci-Tech Empowering Rural Transformation is jointly initiated by the China Internet Information Center (CIIC), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Representation in China, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) China Office, World Food Programme (WFP) China Office and the Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP-CSAM).

CIIC, FAO Representation in China, IFAD China Office, WFP China Centre of Excellence, ESCAP-CSAM jointly compile the 2023 Annual Report on Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The report highlights the useful new technologies and the latest practices in empowering agricultural value chain development. Professor Robert Walker, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts of the Academy of Social Sciences and a foreign professor at Beijing Normal University, provides special support for this report.

The report aims to draw lessons from China's youth' practices on leveraging science and technology to empower rural development and promote the exchange of experience among developing countries through South-South cooperation knowledge sharing.