JINAN -- On the front line of the fight against COVID-19 outbreak, Wang Bing unexpectedly met the man who saved his life 13 years ago when he was still a child.

The 26-year-old nurse from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Qianfoshan Hospital in Jinan, East China's Shandong province, developed an allergic reaction to penicillin when he was 13 years old. Fortunately, he was brought back from the brink of death by intensive care staff at a hospital in Liaocheng, also in Shandong.

With a grateful heart, Wang studied medicine in university and chose to work in an ICU after graduation. After the COVID-19 outbreak, he signed up to join the Shandong medical team that was sent to aid Huanggang, some 800 km away from his hometown and also one of the hardest-hit cities in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak in China.

In Huanggang, Wang was coincidentally reunited with Liu Qingyue, the doctor who saved him 13 years ago. Liu, from the ICU of the Second People's Hospital of Liaocheng, was also dispatched to Huanggang to treat patients during the outbreak.

"I want to save more patients, just like doctor Liu, and pay tribute to them with actions," the young nurse said.

Among the over 40,000 medical workers who were sent to aid Hubei from across China, about 12,000 were born in the 1990s or even after 2000, according to Ding Xiangyang, deputy secretary-general of the State Council.

The young generation has become the backbone of the country in battling the virus, Ding said.

"I'm quite amazed at how these young people behaved on the front line," Liu said. 

Rather than the usual stereotype of the post-90s generation, considered spoiled and weak, they showed many excellent qualities, such as strength, bravery and decisiveness, during the outbreak. In particular, their optimism inspired the teams and moved thousands of people.

Gan Ruyi, a young doctor who works in a hospital in Jiangxia district of Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, had already returned to her hometown of Jingzhou, also in Hubei, before the Spring Festival, which fell on Jan 25 this year.

However, after the outbreak, she decided to end the prolonged holiday early and return to her post. Due to Wuhan's lockdown since Jan 23 and the suspension of buses between her hometown and Wuhan, the young girl cycled more than 300 km over four days to get back to her hospital on the night of Feb 3.

"The hospital was short-handed, I had to come back," she said.

Apart from medical workers, young people from all walks of life rushed to the front lines in the battle with the epidemic.

Hua Yuchen, a young music teacher at a primary school in Wuhan, signed up to be a volunteer amid the outbreak, though she was initially afraid to let her parents know.

She kept switching her roles in the volunteer work, including broadcasting in a temporary hospital, driving medical staff to and from work, taking body temperatures at a toll station and even helping carry aid materials from across the country.

Moreover, she also took advantage of her musical expertise to organize her students to record a Chinese choral song, "Brightest Star in the Night Sky," to cheer up the people suffering from the epidemic. The video clip, recorded seperately and synthesized by Hua at home, went viral online and won thousands of likes on social media platforms.

"Although I'm not a doctor and can't treat patients, I still want to do my part," Hua said.

Her thought was echoed by Liu Jiayi, a member of the Guangdong medical team who is not yet 20 years old. "At this critical moment, we won't flinch when the country needs us," Liu said.

"Actually, we are no different from the previous generation. Though more willing to express ourselves, we also have a high sense of responsibility. Maybe this means we have grown up," Wang Bing said.