The 2017 BRICS Youth Forum themed “Enhance BRICS Partnership, Promote Youth Development” kicked off in Beijing on July 25.

A total of 50 young delegates including politicians, experts, business leaders and students from the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) attended the three-day event hosted by the All-China Youth Federation (ACYF).

Wang Hongyan, the vice president of ACYF, extended a warm welcome to the youth delegates from the BRICS countries at the opening ceremony. She called for expanding consensus, promoting innovation and increasing cooperation among the youth delegates of the BRICS countries so that the world can better hear the voice of the youth.

“The 2017 forum will continue to serve as a platform for the youth of the BRICS countries to facilitate communication and promote pragmatic cooperation,” she said.

Huang Yiyang, counselor of the Department of International Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized the significance of the youth exchange mechanism of the BRICS countries.

“The youth exchange mechanism of the BRICS countries is brand new, which will enrich the connotations of BRICS exchanges and communication. The BRICS countries should work together to construct a more open world economy, strengthen cultural exchanges and promote effective mechanisms among the BRICS countries,” Huang said.

Sergio Suchodolski, director general of the Department of Strategy and Partnerships in the New Development Bank (NDB), spoke of the role of the youth in instituting new mechanisms. According to Suchodolski, the NDB will focus on hiring young and qualified professionals able to bring new ideas and challenge the status quo.

During the plenary session, Wu Zhicheng from the Zhou Enlai School of Government at Nankai University delivered a keynote speech on the Belt and Road Initiative and youth development in the BRICS countries.

Wu emphasized the significance of the Belt and Road Initiative in promoting the construction and development of the BRICS countries, and listed possible challenges ahead. He suggested the youth of the BRICS countries take the initiative to contribute to the construction of the cultural exchange mechanism among the BRICS countries, and actively participate in the communication and exchange activities.

Over the coming two days, youth delegates will discuss three topics: key points and characteristics of BRICS youth policy, BRICS youth innovation and entrepreneurship, and BRICS youth participation in global governance. An action plan will also be worked on for the 2017 BRICS Youth Forum.

Further to group talks, the youth delegates will also visit a popular Chinese bike-sharing company, attend cultural activities, and visit the Great Wall and the Olympic Green.

Footprints left by a wild Siberian tiger have been discovered in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, further evidence of the species’s presence in the region.

Xu Jinxue, who lives in Zhenbaodao Township, in Heilongjiang’s Hulin City, stumbled upon the footprints when he was tending his paddy field, according to the local government.

“The footprints were larger than my palm and were shaped like those of cats,” Xu said. He took pictures of the prints and sent them to the local authority. The footprints were later identified by wildlife experts as belonging to the Siberian tiger.

“From the footprints we concluded that the tiger had been walking slowly and was quite heavy,” said Zhou Haixiang, with the Chinese National Committee for Man and the Biosphere Program.

Evidence of wild Siberian tigers has been confirmed this year several times by Raohe County and Dongfanghong forestry bureau, close to Hulin, meaning it is highly possible that the big cats lives in the area. The footprints also prove that there are adults and cubs among the tigers.

China has strengthened ecological protection in recent years, resulting in the gradual increase of wildlife living in areas near the China-Russia border.

Siberian tigers are one of the world’s most endangered species. They predominantly live in northeast China and eastern Russia.

Heilongjiang has reported evidence of frequent activity by wild Siberian tigers in recent years. Local authorities said the province has witnessed a rise both in the population of wild tigers and their prey.

Responding to recent netizen questions on the crude treatment of cubs by breeders, a director with Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding said caretakers bare the animals no ill will.

A two-minute online video that shows three breeders dragging, dropping and throwing cubs on the ground to prevent them escaping had more than 440,000 views and received over 3,200 comments. Most online viewers were angry with breeders and questioned if they loved animals.

The director said the short video was just part of the story. It did not show that the cubs were extremely excited that day, biting and scratching breeders on their legs and arms, but he noted “breeders should treat cubs gently.”

“We feel sorry for the rude behavior and have reprimanded breeders, teaching them how to manage such situations properly,” he said.

The three breeders, Guo Jingpeng, Xie Huhai and Guo Yunxia, told Chinese media the original video was more than 50 minutes long, but the clip only focused on their aggressive actions. “It looks like we treated the pandas badly all the time,” said Guo.

Before pulling down a cub, Guo was bitten on his left arm and hand that day, which happened so fast people could not see it in the video. “Pandas are cute but sometimes they are also fierce. People may be infected by rabies after a bite or scratch from them.”

Xie said the breeders felt sorry for their actions that day, but the online comments, which questioned their love for the cubs, were too much.

“We have taken care of the cubs for about two years,” Guo said. “When they were sick, we were nervous. We always feel close to them.”

The family of an 11­-year-­old boy who died while rac­ing friends as he rode an Ofo bike in Shanghai have included the bike-­sharing company in a lawsuit against those involved in the crash.

The boy, who has not been identified, collided head­-on with a tourist bus as he rode on the wrong side of the road in the city’s central Tiantong Road on March 26. He died at a hospital shortly after the crash.

His parents originally filed their lawsuit against the bus driver and Shanghai Hong­mao Auto Rental, which owns the vehicle. By adding Ofo to the list of plaintiffs, the suit has become the first liti­gation in China against a bike-­sharing company over an accident.

Zhang Qianlin, the plain­tiff’s attorney, said on Mon­day the couple were demanding total compensa­tion of 8.78 million yuan (US$1.3 million) and that Ofo imme­diately install smart locks on all its bikes.

Older models operated by the company have mechanical locks, which require a four­-digit combi­nation, “but some users forget to scramble the com­bination when they finish their journey, meaning they can be ridden for free”, said Zhang, senior partner at DeBund Law Offices in Shanghai.

“Even if the lock is scram­bled, techniques to unlock the bikes are widely circulat­ed online and can be easily mastered by children,” he added.

Chinese law forbids minors under 12 from riding bikes and tricycles on roads. Zhang said the boy’s parents think the mechanical locks present a hidden danger because they make the bikes accessible to children.

The lawyer said despite media reports on juveniles racing shared bikes, result­ing in injury and even death in some cases, Ofo has failed to update its equipment to block underage users.

“We’re not only seeking civil compensation for the victim’s death, but also want it to be litigation in the public interest,” he said. “When shared bicycles become an important part of urban traf­fic, we want the bike opera­tors to clarify their responsibility to prevent sim­ilar tragedies.”

The fatal accident in March was the first in Shanghai involving a child under 12 on a shared bike. In June, a 13­-year-­old boy died in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, while riding downhill on an Ofo bike.

Ofo declined to comment when contacted on Monday. However, in February, the company pledged to replace its mechanical locks to pre­vent illegal use by children after Shanghai traffic and education authorities called for improved safety.

The case is scheduled to be heard at Shanghai Jing’an district court next month, according to court spokes­man Li Hongguang.

Public opinion was mixed online. Some said poor parental supervision was the main culprit in the accident. Others said shared bike ser­vices are closely linked to public safety, so the company must make sure their prod­ucts are safe and have no obvious flaws.

A man who allegedly stabbed five people before plowing into a group of nine others in a suburban district of Beijing on Sunday was found dead on Monday, local media reported.

The suspect, Wang Shanwen, committed suicide, Beijing News quoted an insider as saying on Monday afternoon just three hours after Beijing police put up a reward on social media offering 200,000 yuan (US$29,600) for key information.

The 38-year-old, who is originally from Heilongjiang Province, is said to have injured a group of five people with scissors in Miyun district before fleeing in a van, killing one person and injuring eight, at about 3 p.m. on Sunday, police said.

The injured were treated at a hospital.