In times of change, what it means to be Chinese

Gearing up for next stage

Many ordinary Chinese themselves show that the terms "industrious" and "innovative" are perhaps the most representative of what it means to be Chinese today, amid their country's unprecedented development in recent decades.

"The journey of the Chinese people in recent times is based on hard work and the unrelenting spirit of innovation," said Fang Dongxu, 34, a professional photographer from Jiangsu province.

Sheryl Wang, 22, a Malaysian student at Zhejiang University in Zhejiang province, cited the purchases made via e-commerce portal Taobao seamlessly arriving on her doorstep even during weekends as an example of how industrious the Chinese are. Similar delivery services would not be available on weekends in her home country, said the student, who has been in China for three years.

People in China "live at a really fast pace ... here everything is so modern and the technology is very good and convenient", she said.

Ammar Hawbani, an associate professor of wireless network technology at the University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui province, said that, through his observations of Chinese students in his laboratory, many young Chinese exhibit innovative and productive traits. Many of his Chinese college classmates started their own businesses, said Hawbani, 34, who is from Yemen and has spent 14 years in China.

"Chinese people will be more innovative for the following reasons. The first reason is the young generation, they receive better education, especially in science and mathematics," he said.

"The second reason is, because of international competition, the government will push the young generation to be more and more innovative."

Yan Xiaofeng, a professor at Tianjin University who formerly held the rank of major general at the National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army, said an acute awareness of China's limited resources and related conditions when compared with other countries may push many Chinese to be more industrious, which in turn cannot be separated from traditional notions of hard work.

Those are also ideals that are "necessarily needed at this stage of our country's development", he said.

Zhejiang University student Wu Wanyun, 21, from Guangdong province, said the "spirit of innovation" was definitely representative of her generation. She cited an "Internet Plus" innovation and entrepreneurship competition in her school, where novel proposals ranging from digital portals producing music to platforms selling cat food were presented.

"With more ideas and creativity, not limited to any one path or direction, you'll find yourself wanting to try new things and forging a new way for yourself," Wu said.