Chinese dream is the dream for mankind

BEIJING -- In her ninth year living in China, An Qi, 21, went viral in an online video.

In a clip posted earlier this year, the African girl speaks in a dialect from China's southwestern municipality of Chongqing, very different from Mandarin in pronunciation and tone, garnering huge attention online.

An Qi got her Chinese name after coming to Chongqing, and had barely any idea about China when she arrived in the country for school after leaving the Republic of Congo in 2008.

Now as a sophomore majoring in business administration in Chongqing University, she speaks fluent Chinese and has nearly 330,000 fans on "Meipai," a Chinese video streaming app.

Online fame helps her with her offline dream: to earn enough money in China to give her parents a better life back home.

"It is the same dream of many Chinese people," she said.

The "Chinese dream" is an idea put forward by the Chinese top leadership that has become something of a catchphrase across the nation, and been widely interpreted as the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, an idea itself entwined with the Chinese people's yearning for a better life.

For foreign residents chasing dreams in China like An Qi, the Chinese dream is not something held dear by just Chinese people, but something to be aspired to for just about anyone who dares to dream.

DREAM FOR EMBRACEMENT

Before An Qi came to China, she only knew the country through television, and believed the same time worn cliches as everybody else that knows little about China. She actually believed everyone in the country knew kung fu.

Nine years later, things have changed and even her hometown is dotted with Chinese companies.

"Many Chinese companies are building infrastructure there, which is really improving our life," she said.

As China works to carve out a better future for itself, it is also embracing other countries as it develops, through such programs as the Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious plan to strengthen China's cooperation with countries throughout the world.

Since the initiative was started in 2013, China had spent 51.1 billion U.S. dollars in countries along the Belt and Road, and Chinese companies had created tax revenues totaling 900 million U.S. dollars for those countries as well as nearly 70,000 local jobs as of July 2016.

An Qi is fond of calling China her "second home" and respects the fact that her country has received so much help from China.

"We have benefited from the stable development of the Chinese economy," she said.

DREAM FOR OPPORTUNITY

William M. Scott IV, executive vice president of MGM Resorts International, has swapped the American dream for the Chinese dream, leaving the Unites States to seek opportunities in China.

Working for the U.S. global hospitality and entertainment company, Scott also has another title: managing director of Diaoyutai MGM Hospitality, a joint venture between Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, China's top venue for hosting foreign leaders, and MGM Resorts International.

Through the venture, Diaoyutai and MGM have jointly opened hotels in Hangzhou and Chengdu and residences in Sanya, a resort city in China's southern Hainan Province. They also have projects in the pipeline for Beijing, Shanghai and Frankfurt.

Born in the United States, Scott's parents could never have imagined that one day he would be living and working in China. Now he works with a Chinese and Americans team with a mutual dream: that both countries have market success.

"Our product is different because it combines elements of both the Chinese and American hospitality traditions. We think this makes the product better," Scott said.

Scott's personal dream, of pursuing professional success, is closely connected with the Chinese dream.

"I view the Chinese dream as just a part of my own dream, the dreams of my friends -- the human dream."

"We are building a company together, and it does not matter that some of us are Chinese and some of us are Americans," he said.

Economic and trade exchanges between China and the United States have grown fast since China opened up to the world more than thirty years ago

Trade between the two countries reached $558.4 billion in 2015, hundreds of times greater than in 1979 when China-U.S. diplomatic relations were established.

Scott believes the business he works for has felt the benefits of China integrating with the world economy, and he pays tribute to the many Chinese people who are traveling, studying and doing business globally.

"This drive to improve and experience the world helps build both the nation and the world," he said.

DREAM FOR COMMUNICATION

Unlike An Qi and Scott, Franck Priot, a Frenchman, does not work or live in China, but he does believe in the Chinese dream.

He used to be the chief operating officer of Film France, a French state-funded agency in charge of promoting France, and he is now the chief executive officer of a company called Ghosts City, which helps French or Chinese companies in TV or film to find business partners from other countries.

Priot believes film is part and parcel of how nations build their dreams. Just as America with Hollywood, and as happened in France, China will also tread this path.

"I guess Chinese movies will be a part of the Chinese dream," he said.

Working as a "foreign culture communicator," Priot comes to China four or five times a year, and is aware of the growing confidence of the Chinese film industry and Chinese filmmakers.

"They have become more comfortable working with foreign filmmakers, as they are more confident in their own strengths and values," he said.

Aiming for further collaboration between French and Chinese filmmakers, Priot said he is looking forward to the future.

"There is this common dream to do beautiful movies, which may one day be screened at the Cannes Film Festival," he said.

Whether in Africa, France, or America, it looks likely that the Chinese dream will continue to expand its reach and become something that is not just for China but for the whole world. The Chinese dream is surely set to become the human dream.