As the all-electric fleet traversed the vast expanse of Eurasia and arrived at Shenzhen Bay, a 43-day, 15,000-kilometer odyssey along the Silk Road culminated in Shenzhen, a global epicenter of scientific and technological innovation. Seven hundred and fifty years prior, Marco Polo set forth on his legendary journey, igniting the exchange and fusion of Eastern and Western civilizations. Today, BYD's new energy vehicles and ultra-fast charging networks act as modern-day "tech envoys" and "green stations" along the new Silk Road, scripting a fresh chapter in the "Millennium Civilization: Ultra-Fast Charging Across Thousands of Miles."

On July 25, Beijing time, at BYD's global headquarters, the Marco Polo Expedition, co-spearheaded by renowned economist Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs and M31 Capital's founding managing partner Zhong Lei, reached a triumphant conclusion. This groundbreaking initiative, retracing the ancient Silk Road with cutting-edge green technology, transformed Shenzhen's innovative landscape into a cross-civilizational consensus on sustainable development. When the ancient Silk Road's spirit of interconnectivity seamlessly blends with contemporary green technology, the Civilization Dialogue of the new era gains a sturdier foundation and a more expansive global outlook.

On the day of the expedition's conclusion, the "Technology Leads, Co-creating the Future" Youth Forum was held at the Southern University of Science and Technology. The forum convened eminent scholars, tech visionaries, and university students, fostering high-caliber discussions on the integration of technology and Chinese-Western cultures, inspiring youthful minds, and nurturing talent development. Relevant leaders from the Shenzhen Municipal Committee's Publicity Department remarked in their address that this Marco Polo Expedition resonates deeply with APEC's core principles of "interconnectivity, co-existence, and mutual benefit" and the tenets of China's Belt and Road Initiative. Shenzhen's local tech enterprises, epitomized by BYD, are also forging connections with the global market with an open and inclusive stance.

During the keynote speech session, globally acclaimed economist and Columbia University Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs reflected on BYD's journey retracing Marco Polo's path, viewing it not merely as a technical feat but also as a cultural dialogue. He lauded BYD's remarkable contributions to global interconnectivity and sustainable development. He also commended the "Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou" innovation cluster's debut at the pinnacle of the "2025 Global Innovation Index" top 100 innovation clusters and the visionary foresight and pragmatic execution of China's Belt and Road Initiative.

Wang Jian, CEO of BGI Group, deliberated on talent cultivation and sustainable development amidst the AI revolution from the vantage point of life science advancements. He posited that with breakthroughs in life medicine, the era of human centenarians is on the horizon, encouraging youth to boldly explore and seize the opportunities of the times.

In the ensuing roundtable discussion, Li Qian, BYD Group's Board Secretary and Chief Investment Officer, expounded on the company's global footprint, stating that BYD's presence in over 100 countries attests to the fact that true technological leadership transcends unidirectional market empowerment; it entails creating a sustainable technological ecosystem and talent pipeline. Qiu Chunchao, CEO of RoboSense, recounted the team's meteoric rise from campus research to thriving in the new energy industry wave and shared a forward-looking strategy for laying the technological groundwork for the physical intelligent world in the AI era. Academician Meng Qinghu from the Southern University of Science and Technology, starting from Shenzhen's innovation DNA, opined that Shenzhen's edge lies not merely in leading a singular industry but in constructing a seamless closed loop from university talent cultivation, basic research breakthroughs to industrial incubation and implementation. This innovation ecosystem underpins Shenzhen's global tech ascendancy.

Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs underscored that win-win cooperation is a pivotal consensus for the sustainable development of the global economy and technological innovation. Zhong Lei, founding managing partner of M31 Capital, proposed that the new era's Silk Road is not merely a linear geographical corridor but a global collaboration network interlinked by technological innovation and cultural dialogue, with Shenzhen playing a pivotal role as the eastern nexus of this network.

Looking ahead, BYD will remain headquartered in Shenzhen, forging global connections, and persistently building bridges for Chinese-Western dialogue through technological innovation, continuing to script new tales of Silk Road interconnectivity and co-existence, and bolstering global sustainable development.