'China summits' pop up at US schools

When Ai Meng, a graduate student at New York University, heard that her idol Chen Man, China's most famous fashion photographer, was coming to a student event at the University of Pennsylvania, she bought the $65 early-bird ticket right away.

It wasn't until Ai arrived that she realized she also would get to meet the CEO of Xiaomi Inc, the chairman of China's largest film distributor, the director of Farewell My Concubine, the co-founder of China's top real estate services company, and the head of JP Morgan China.

"It's such a rare chance to meet all these big names together. And unlike in China, where an event like this would be overcrowded, we had the opportunity to interact with them and ask them questions," Ai said.

Nearly 1,300 young Chinese attended the first Penn Wharton China Summit from April 1-3, where more than 20 Chinese leaders from politics, business, finance, arts, entertainment, technology and social welfare shared their insights on China.

The summit was produced by 20 undergraduate students after a year of preparation. It was said to be the largest student-held event at the university in recent years.

The number and scale of student-hosted China conferences have grown significantly in the US.

This past weekend, Ai was headed to the Harvard China Forum, where some other big names were expected to show up.

In the past two weeks, also on the East Coast, Columbia Business School students held the ninth China Business Conference, and Global China Connection (GCC), a network of China-watchers in more than 60 universities around the world, held its annual summit in New York.

"It seems like every school has a China summit now," said Zhang Cheng, co-president of the GCC New York University Chapter and a junior communications major.

"A lot of Chinese students are debating between going back to China or staying here," said Eric Tse, co-president of the Penn Wharton China Summit and a sophomore finance major.

"I hope to provide the Chinese students in the US and also graduates a platform to learn about the Chinese economy and the opportunities in the industry that they are interested in.

"That's why I decided to invite these leaders from China. They are the ones who know the current China the best," Tse said.

Throughout the event, the young attendees asked many questions, from personal ones such as whether Chinese investors would be interested in their startup ideas to how young people should contribute to China's diplomacy and how Chinese movies can go global.

John Zhang, a professor of marketing at the Wharton School and the Penn Wharton China Center director, said the growing number of China summits reflects a demand for knowledge about China. "They are very interested in what's happening in their home country."

Also, Zhang said there is a growing number of students of Chinese heritage on campus, including Chinese Americans, Chinese who came to the West at an early age, and those who came directly from China.

"They want to share the story of China with others," Zhang said.

Though inviting the speakers took much effort, Tse said he was grateful that all the leaders supported the cause and wanted to share their experiences with the next generation.

Chen Man, Ai's idol, had to turn down a major client on a campaign shoot to make the summit trip.

Both Ambassador Cui Tiankai and director Chen Kaige borrowed the line from Chairman Mao: "This is your world, and so it is ours. But by the end of the day, it's all yours. You young people out there, who are so full of energy and in your prime. You're just like the morning sun."

Though all have names like China summit or forum or conference, some events have different missions.

GCC held its annual summit to connect young people who are interested in China from all over the world. At this year's 350-person summit, there were members attending from California, Canada and New Zealand.

hezijiang@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 04/11/2016 page1)