FILE: China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of sunlight; school playground, classroom, teaching equipment, student exercise book; child doing homework
UPSOUNDS (Chinese) Children (names not known):
"I want to be a school teacher when I grow up."
"When I grow up I want to be a special police officer to safeguard the security of my motherland."
"I want to be a doctor when I grow up."
"I want to be a dancer."
"I want to be an inventor."
"I want to be a superhero."
"I want to be able to reach the stars."
2. Various of President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, interacting with children
UPSOUNDS (Chinese) Xi Jinping, Chinese President:
"Childhood consists of the best and most unforgettable moments whenever people think of it."
"Seeing you makes me think of our future."
3. Various of school building; Xi visiting school children, school lab
UPSOUNDS (Chinese) Children:
"Greetings, Grandpa Xi!"

FILE: Zhongyi Town, Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County, Chongqing Municipality, southwest China - April 15, 2019 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xi Jinping, Chinese President:
"Your hands are cold. Are you wearing enough clothes?"
5. Xi visiting school canteen
6. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xi Jinping, Chinese President:
"Two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes and a soup for a meal."

FILE: Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, northeast China - Aug 17, 2022 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland) 7. Various of Xi, students in flight simulation class
8. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xi Jinping, Chinese President (partially overlaid with shot 9):
"You are all good kids. I wish you all grow up healthy."
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
9. Children clapping hands, handing Xi candies
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10. Xi waving children goodbye

FILE: Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, northeast China - Jan 23, 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
11. Crowd welcoming Xi
12. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xi Jinping, Chinese President:
"Thank you! I'd love to have your candies. You are the future of our country."
13. Various of children thanking Xi, clapping hands

FILE: China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
14. Wildflowers

FILE: Beijing, China - Feb 24, 2017 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
15. Young ice hockey players
16. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xi Jinping, Chinese President:
"Let's do an elbow bump! Grow stronger. Hope is on your generation."

FILE: Laoxian Township, Pingli County, Shaanxi Province, northwest China - April 21, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
17. Various of building of Laoxian Township central primary school; students sitting in classroom
18. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xi Jinping, Chinese President (starting with shot 17/partially overlaid with shot 19):
"It came to me as a big concern that many children wear glasses these days. Sharpen your mind and toughen your body. What I mean by 'toughen your body' is exercise more."
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
19. Various of students
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++

FILE: Rucheng County, Chenzhou City, Hunan Province, central China - Sept 16, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
20. Aerial shot of school buildings
21. Students sitting in classroom
22. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xi Jinping, Chinese President (starting with shot 21/partially overlaid with shot 23):
"You are like little saplings, and we need to take care of you and protect you from wind and rain. But you will eventually grow into towering trees in the future."
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
23. Various of students
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
24. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xi Jinping, Chinese President:
"Take good care of your eyes."
25. Various of students clapping hands, saying goodbye to Xi
26. School building

FILE: Beijing, China - April 8, 2019 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
27. Various of Xi participating in tree-planting activity, students greeting Xi

FILE: Beijing, China - March 29, 2017 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland) 8275418
28. Various of Xi participating in tree-planting activity
UPSOUND (Chinese) Xi Jinping, Chinese President:
"We should make a tree straight when it is still a sapling. We water it (the tree) together, actually we're watering it for you."

FILE: Beijing, China - April 8, 2019 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
29. Various of students
30. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xi Jinping, Chinese President (starting with shot 29):
"You are like little saplings and I wish you all grow well."
31. Student applauding

FILE: Beijing, China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
32. Various of children wearing red scarves, Chinese national flag

FILE: Beijing, China - May 29, 2013 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
33. Various of children of various ethnic groups greeting Xi at Beijing Children's Palace
34. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xi Jinping, Chinese President (starting with shots 32-33/ending with shot 35):
"I'm glad to see your bright smiles. You are the future and hope of the country. Since antiquity, it is from adolescents that heroes emerge. The next generation will always surpass the previous one. I hope you all have aspirations, have dreams."
35. Various of children listening to Xi

FILE: Beijing, China - June 1, 2015 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
36. Various of Xi shaking hands with young pioneers
UPSOUND (Chinese) Xi Jinping, Chinese President:
"Aspiration is the beacon of life, and a person can have a lot of aspirations but the most important ones are about the motherland and its people."

FILE: Macao, China - Dec 19, 2019 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
37. Backdrop reading "one country, two systems"
38. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xi Jinping, Chinese President (starting with shot 37/ending with shots 39-40):
"This class is very meaningful. As Chinese people, everyone must know the history of the Chinese nation. I have full confidence that today's young people in Macao will mature into a capable generation we are proud of."

FILE: Macao, China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
39. Various of students attending national flag raising ceremony, singing national anthem
40. Chinese national flag

FILE: Beijing, China - April 2, 2021 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
41. Various of students planting trees
42. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xi Jinping, Chinese President (partially overlaid with shot 43/ending with shot 44):
"We will make China a great socialist country with Chinese characteristics by the middle of this century. There are 30 years to go. Now you are 10 years old and when you turn 40, you will become the pillars of the country."
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
43. Students listening
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
44. Various of students listening, applauding

FILE: Suide County, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, northwest China - Sept 14, 2021 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
45. Various of students practicing Chinese calligraphy, Xi visiting; students taking PE class
46. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xi Jinping, Chinese President (starting with shot 45/partially overlaid with shot 47):
"You should strive to become well-rounded talents in terms of moral grounding, intellectual and physical ability, aesthetic sensibility, and work skills. Step by step, you will eventually become contributors to society and backbones of the nation. I wish you all success."
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
47. Various of students listening
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
48. Students applauding

FILE: China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
49. Grass

FILE: Huaping County, Yunnan Province, southwest China - Recent (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
50. Various of Zhang Guimei, principal of Huaping High School for Girls

FILE: Beijing, China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
51. Various of soldiers marching during military parade

FILE: China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
52. Various of doctors in operation room; dancer practicing

FILE: China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
53. Humanoid robot being tested

FILE: Beijing, China - Feb 16, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
54. Various of robot martial arts performances in progress at 2026 China Media Group (CMG) Spring Festival Gala

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, northwest China - May 24, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
55. Various of Shenzhou-23 crew, rocket blasting off

FILE: In Space - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
56. Various of Earth seen from Tiangong space station
UPSOUND (Chinese) Xi Jinping, Chinese President:
"The beautiful life belongs to you. The beautiful Chinese dream also belongs to you!"
FILE: China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
57. Various of diver; children doing sports, practicing lion dance, flying kite
58. Animation

Children are the future of China and the hope of the Chinese nation, President Xi Jinping has said on numerous occasions, stressing the need to nurture the country's young generation to become backbones of the nation.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, extended International Children's Day greetings to children nationwide in a recent reply letter to student docents at the memorials of the birthplaces of the CPC in east China's Shanghai and Zhejiang Province.

Xi has always attached great importance to children's growth and wellbeing, calling them the future of the nation.

"Hope is on your generation," Xi told a group of children when visiting the Wukesong Sports Center in Beijing in February 2017.

Over the years, Xi has engaged with children in various ways, and through those interactions, Xi has become a caring friend to children who affectionately call him "Grandpa Xi".

During a visit to a primary school in Shaanxi Province in April 2020, Xi called for greater efforts to build up children's physical strength via sports and exercise. He particularly stressed the importance of protecting the eyesight of children when he noticed some students wearing glasses.

"It came to me as a big concern that many children wear glasses these days. Sharpen your mind and toughen your body. What I mean by 'toughen your body' is exercise more," Xi told the class.

Xi has often used the metaphor of "saplings" to describe children on various occasions including participating in voluntary tree-plating activities, expressing the hope that they will grow strong and become pillars of society.

"You are like little saplings, and we need to take care of you and protect you from wind and rain. But you will eventually grow into towering trees in the future," Xi told the students at a primary school during a September 2020 inspection tour in Hunan Province, central China.

"You are like little saplings and I wish you all grow well," he said to the children when participating in a voluntary tree-planting activity in Beijing in April 2019.

Xi has also encouraged Chinese youngsters to set ambitious goals from an early age and contribute to the country's development.

"I'm glad to see your bright smiles. You are the future and hope of the country. Since antiquity, it is from adolescents that heroes emerge. The next generation will always surpass the previous one. I hope you all have aspirations, have dreams," Xi said to a group of children at the Beijing Children's Palace in May 2013.

"Aspiration is the beacon of life, and a person can have a lot of aspirations but the most important ones are about the motherland and its people," Xi told the representatives attending the seventh National Congress of the Chinese Young Pioneers in Beijing in June 2015.

Xi has also emphasized the need of fostering an inseparable bond between youth empowerment and national progress, noting that the young generation must have a deep understanding of the country's culture and history, and develop a strongest sense of national pride.

"This class is very meaningful. As Chinese people, everyone must know the history of the Chinese nation. I have full confidence that today's young people in Macao will mature into a capable generation we are proud of," Xi said after observing a Chinese history class at the Premier School Affiliated to Hou Kong Middle School in Macao in December 2019.

To Xi, children in today's China are a new force in the endeavor of building a modern socialist country, and he has urged them to study hard, firm up their ideals and convictions, and develop strong bodies and minds to contribute to realizing the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation.

"We will make China a great socialist country with Chinese characteristics by the middle of this century. There are 30 years to go. Now you are 10 years old and when you turn 40, you will become the pillars of the country," Xi said to the children participating in a voluntary tree-planting activity in Beijing in April 2021.

"You should strive to become well-rounded talents in terms of moral grounding, intellectual and physical ability, aesthetic sensibility, and work skills. Step by step, you will eventually become contributors to society and backbones of the nation. I wish you all success," Xi said to students at a middle school during an inspection tour in Shaanxi in September 2021.