icomeheretodaytotalktoyou,thenextgenerationofchina''sleaders,ab
outthecriticalimportancetoyourfutureofbuildingastrongpartnershipbetweenchinaandtheunitedstates.
theamericanpeopledeeplyadmirechinaforitsthousandsofyearsofcontributiotocultureandreligion,tophilosophyandthearts,toscienceandtechnology.werememberwellourstrongpartnershipinworldwarii.nowweseechinaatamomentinhistorywhenyourgloriouspastismatchedbyyourpresentsweepingtraformationandtheevengreaterpromiseofyourfuture.
justthreedecadesago,chinawasvirtuallyshutofffromtheworld.now,chinaisamemberofmorethan1,000internationalorganizatio--enterprisesthataffecteverythingfromairtraveltoagriculturaldevelopment.youhaveopenedyournationtotradeandinvestmentonalargescale.today,40,000youngchinesestudyintheunitedstates,withhundredsofthousandsmorelearninginasia,africa,europe,andlatinamerica.
yoursocialandeconomictraformationhasbeenevenmoreremarkable,movingfromaclosedcommandeconomicsystemtoadriving,increasinglymarket-basedanddriveneconomy,generatingtwodecadesofurecedentedgrowth,givingpeoplegreaterfreedomtotravelwithinandoutsidechina,tovoteinvillageelectio,toownahome,chooseajob,attendabetterschool.asaresultyouhaveliftedliterallyhundredsofmillioofpeoplefrompoverty.percapitaincomehasmorethandoubledinthelastdecade.mostchinesepeopleareleadinglivestheycouldnothaveimaginedjust20yearsago.
ofcourse,thesechangeshavealsobroughtdisruptioinsettledpatteroflifeandwork,andhaveimposedenormousstraionyourenvironment.onceeveryurbanchinesewasguaranteedemploymentinastateenterprise.nowyoumustcompeteinajobmarket.onceachineseworkerhadonlytomeetthedemandsofacentralplaerinbeijing.nowtheglobaleconomymeaallmustmatchthequalityandcreativityoftherestoftheworld.forthosewholacktherighttrainingandskillsandsuort,thisnewworldcanbedaunting.
intheshort-term,good,hardworkingpeople--some,atleastwillfindthemselvesunemployed.and,asal