The sixth Qilu Youth Forum at Shandong University opens in Jinan on Sept 28. [Photo/view.sdu.edu.cn]

The sixth Qilu Youth Forum at Shandong University – also known as SDU – kicked off on Sept 28 in Jinan, capital city of East China's Shandong province.

The event, a key part of the celebrations for SDU's upcoming 120th anniversary on Oct 15, attracted the participation of 500 young scholars from 24 countries and regions. The three-day affair included a main forum and 38 sub-forums, which were webcast to the worldwide audience.

The sub-forums focused on the humanities, the social sciences, basic science, engineering science, information science and medical science.

SDU president Fan Liming gives a presentation at the forum. [Photo/view.sdu.edu.cn]

At the forum SDU president Fan Liming gave a presentation on the university’s history, strengths, traditions and pursuits. She urged the forum to facilitate the young scholars' understanding of Shandong and the university, while anticipating their joint efforts in advancing SDU’s development.

The forum also included an interview that aimed to promote the support policies of Shandong, Jinan, Qingdao and Weihai, as well as SDU's recruitment, training and associated measures.

During the event, 13 of SDU's units were given awards for their achievements in recruitment work, in order to further expand the wider workforce and stimulate its innovative development.

In addition, the event held a sub-forum themed on overseas recruiting, focusing on the topic of hiring international professionals in a safe way during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Qilu Youth Forum, founded in 2016, has been held for six consecutive years and is understood to offer the university a key medium to attract talented individuals.

The previous five events attracted about 2,000 experts from over 30 countries and regions. This year's event reportedly outstripped the past five, in terms of the number of attendees and size of the sub forums.