1 CHINA-2014/04/24 THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION HOW CHINA’S YOUTH ARE TRANSFORMING CHINESE SOCIETY: NEW RESEARCH FINDINGS FROM THE PRC Washington, D.C. Thursday, April 24, 2014 Opening Remarks: CHENG LI Senior Fellow and Director, John L. Thornton China Center The Brookings Institution CHEN GUANGJIN Director, Institute of Sociology Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Keynote Address: Chinese Youth and Upcoming Developments: MARTIN K. WHYTE John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and Sociology Harvard University JONATHAN POLLACK, Moderator Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy The Brookings Institution Youth Mobility: Education, Employment, and Inequality: GUO YONG, Moderator Visiting Scholar, Harvard Kennedy School of Government Associate Professor of Public Policy, Tsinghua University LI CHUNLING Professor and Director Department of Youth Studies and Social Problems Institute of Sociology Chinese Academy of Social Sciences TIAN FENG Associate Professor and Deputy Director Department of Youth Studies and Social Problems Institute of Sociology Chinese Academy of Social Sciences ANDERSON COURT REPORTING 706 Duke Street, Suite 100 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190 2 CHINA-2014/04/24 ZHU DI Assistant Professor Department of Youth Studies and Social Problems Institute of Sociology Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Behavioral Change of Chinese Youth in a Commercialized Digital Era: MARCELLA SZABLEWICZ, Moderator Assistant Professor of Communication Pace University SHI YUNQING Assistant Professor Department of Youth Studies and Social Problems Institute of Sociology Chinese Academy of Social Sciences MENG LEI Assistant Professor Department of Youth Studies and Social Problems Institute of Sociology Chinese Academy of Social Sciences LU PENG Assistant Professor Department of Youth Studies and Social Problems Institute of Sociology Chinese Academy of Social Sciences * * * * * ANDERSON COURT REPORTING 706 Duke Street, Suite 100 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190 3 CHINA-2014/04/24 P R O C E E D I N G S DR. LI: Good morning. On behalf of the Brookings China Center, I'm pleased to welcome you all to this very special event addressing youth, a stage of life I wish I had more personal experience with (Laughter). Well, arguably, no demographic group in the history of the world has witnessed a greater economic and social transformation than today’s Chinese youths who have grown up parallel to China’s emergence as a global economic power. During their formative years, today’s Chinese youths have seen roads fit by bicycles, replaced by highways, filled with Audis and BMWs, even in second tier cities in China. They have seen the blue skies of their younger days stand by a dusty haze, and they have been obsessed with the networking of Weibo and WeChat. Now, this unique demographic group has witnessed the power of a social, economic transformation both for better and worse. And as the title of today’s event suggests, youth are also transforming Chinese society in many tangible ways. They will build on dramatic changes that they have witnessed in their lifetime as they emerge as leaders of all walks of life that will shape China for years and decades to come. Now today, we are so lucky to have the opportunity to learn more about the Chinese youths from our delegations from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences led by director Chen Guangjin and my good friend Li Chunling. They have come all the way from Beijing to discuss with us their new groundbreaking sociological research on this important, yet under researched demographic group. What is most impressive about this CASS research team is that many of them are also young scholars, very young, because they are middle 20s and probably even younger than that. How could you have that kind of distinguished younger ANDERSON COURT REPORTING 706 Duke Street, Suite 100 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190 4 CHINA-2014/04/24 scholars? And many of them already have their PhDs. Even at their young age, they have already made a remarkable impact in the field of sociology. Now, this also reminds me that according to several survey’s research about the American public opinion regarding China, the research by peer research and also by committee of one hundred are heavily involved have the similar finding that the younger age group in the United States, namely later teenagers and up to 29 years old, they usually have more favorable views of China. The point, actually are almost 20 points higher than preceding groups. So, I really want to know -- I don't know whether your research also covered this kind of an attitude in those things about the United States. And if so, whether the Chinese younger generations have the better views about the United States or not. I'm very curious. I don't know whether -- I know that your main topic is not about that, but it would be fascinating if you can share, if you have the data on that topic. Certainly not in all countries do young people have better views than the preceding generation about China, but in the United States, we find it a pattern over the past decade that a younger group has more favorable views of China. This is very encouraging. And I'm also thankful to have with us several well known Chinese scholars from universities in the United States. I'm particularly pleased that we have the honor of hearing from my good friend, Marty Whyte from Harvard, who will be keynoting this event as the authority on sociology studies in China, and really an intellectual giant in this field. Marty has conducted some landmark survey research on Chinese youths of his own. We feature him many times here at Brookings, and most recently about our book launch on middle CASS, and we were so pleased to have you then, and also, pleased to have you back to Brookings. ANDERSON COURT REPORTING 706 Duke Street, Suite 100 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190 5 CHINA-2014/04/24 I also want to thank my China Center colleague, Jonathan Pollack, a good friend, of course, for moderating the keynote session, especially on such short notice in replacing Ken Lieberthal who cannot be here this morning. He sends his best to the team, to the delegation and to particularly, his long time friend, Marty Whyte. We are also very happy to be joined by two scholars who are making their Brookings debut as they moderate our two panels today. First, we have Dr. Guo Yong, a visiting scholar at Harvard and an associate professor at the Tsinghua University. He actually also was in charge of student affairs at the Tsinghua University for many years. Tough job, right? And he will moderate our first panel on youth mobility and lead a discussion on education, employment and inequality. And second, we have Dr. Marcella -- the last name, really cannot pronounce at all (Laughter). I know that -- let me try. Could you -- MS. SZABLEWICZ: Szablewicz. DR. LI: Szablewicz, thank you -- whose name I really cannot -- never can pronounce, but whose scholarship is truly outstanding. Anyone who has read her articles will agree with me. It’s fascinating research. And also, I know that you are working on your new book. I think that it will soon be a bestselling book and your name will become you know, widely known in China. I think that you should probably have a Chinese translation of your name. (Laughter) It’s really fascinating. Well, he is an assistant professor at Pace University in New York, and she will lead a panel on how Chinese youth are adapting to a commercialized digital area. And thank you all for our speakers and the panelists for joining us today. I know that we are all excited to hear your insightful findings and commentary. But before doing so, let me come to my co-host of the conference, a distinctive scholar by himself, Chen Guangjin, director of the Institute of Sociology at the ANDERSON COURT REPORTING 706 Duke Street, Suite 100 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190 6 CHINA-2014/04/24 CASS to offer his opening remarks, Dr. Chen. (Applause) DR. GUANGJIN: Good morning, everybody, ladies and gentlemen. And I'm very pleased to be here, first of all, I should really be saying on behalf of Dr. Li Peilin the vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, abbreviated as CASS. I would like to thank Dr. Jonathan Pollack for sparing your valuable time to attend this workshop. And I am also grateful to Dr. Li Cheng for organizing this fabulous workshop for my delegation, and again, congratulations for your recent appointment. Moreover, it will be a great honor and a pleasure to hear your speech and the comments from Professor Martin Whyte, Professor Guo Yong, and Professor Marcella Szablewicz. Plus, my colleagues will survive (Inaudible) 03:15from your comments and the criticism. And this delegation, me and the other eight members, came from the Institute of Sociology of CASS. This time, we bring the team of the survey of Chinese college students and the graduates. College students are an important part of Chinese youth. Not only are they the important force to shape the future of Chinese society, but also, they are precious and (Inaudible) are becoming (Inaudible)03:34:40 issues today. And this team headed by Professor Li Chunling here, who is conducting an ongoing five years survey based on college students and fresh graduates in 12 universities and colleges in China, among them, not only including the elite universities, but also common universities and junior colleges, as well. This survey taken through online systems aims to collect the information and variable aspects of those youth, including live calls, consumption, Internet behaviors, cultural preferences, school to employment transition, political attitudes and so on. So, you will hear their presentations on the first wave of their data (Inaudible) analysis of form. Hope You will enjoy it. ANDERSON COURT REPORTING 706 Duke Street, Suite 100 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190 7 CHINA-2014/04/24 And I know you guys are tired of campaigning for my institute, but before handing over my microphone to Professor Martin Whyte, I would like to send all of you a message of invitation to approach us for further cooperation. Besides hosting your visiting fellowship, we can together conduct surveys, coauthor articles, organize conferences, release reports and even build a joint center or program, as we have been engaging with many other strategy collaborators from the globe. And particularly, I wish this visit will led (Inaudible) blossom the relationship between my institute and the John L. Thornton China Center on the leadership for Dr. Li Cheng, and I hope collaboration between our two think tanks can be productive and constructive. Thank you very much. (Applause) DR. POLLACK: Good morning, everyone. Thank you to my colleague, Cheng Li and to Professor Chen as well, for your very, very appropriate introductory remarks. I'm delighted to be here. I'm substituting for Ken Lieberthal, who as Cheng has mentioned, sends his best and is here in spirit. We are really privileged this morning to initiate this event by hearing from Marty Whyte from Harvard University. I should say, parenthetically, I first encountered Marty a long time ago when I was a graduate student at the University of Michigan. Marty, I won't disclose the precise number of years -- well, actually, I know -- well, we both know roughly how long it was. But to me, Marty always looks so unchanging (Laughter). But that’s okay. That’s okay. But of course, few people have influenced the field of the study of China at a sociological level than Marty has, that we are all very, very familiar with it. What I think he’ll try to do this morning, and he should speak for himself, of course, is to set some of our discussion in both a larger context, and I think in some ways, remind us of some of the difficulties of generalization, when you begin to disaggregate some of the ANDERSON COURT REPORTING 706 Duke Street, Suite 100 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190 8 CHINA-2014/04/24 trends that we see in China. So you know, on that basis, Marty, welcome back to Brookings. We're delighted to have you here, and all of us look forward to your remarks. MR. WHYTE: Thank you. (Applause) DR. POLLACK: This is a podium where you have to be very careful when you step out of your chair (Laughter). You may disappear. MR. WHYTE: Thank you very much. It’s very nice to be back at Brookings, and as a sociologist who studies China, I'm very eager to hear what our Chinese colleagues have to say about their research and their latest research on Chinese youth. I'm also, of course, a little bit intimidated, partly, because when I get these kind of introductions, it sets a very high bar that I don't think I can meet. And also, my own research on slightly different topics today, rather than specifically on Chinese youth, so I'm not necessarily up to date on all of the things we’ll learn today. But I thought I would, as Jonathan mentioned, talk about some concerns I had just about the profile of Chinese youth and how difficult it is to generalize. And my comments might -- you might call my remarks a tale of two youths, with apologies to Charles Dickens. And what I mean here is, the situation of rural origin youths versus urban origin youths, it seems to me has always been -- has in recent times, been quite divergent, and in some ways, is divergent even more widely. And so there’s a difficulty, it seems to me, and a challenge to our Chinese colleagues and to other researches trying to generalize in sort of two parts of a large group that are in some ways going in different directions. Let me start by making a few familiar comments about the demography of China and the demography of Chinese youth. We all know that China has been ANDERSON COURT REPORTING 706 Duke Street, Suite 100 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190 9 CHINA-2014/04/24 urbanizing rapidly in recent years. We're told that early in this decade, China crossed the divide to become 50 percent urban, so maybe China is 55 percent urban in terms of population now. But that 55 percent includes both people with urban hukou, people who I will call urban citizens, but it also includes more than 200 million migrants -- migrants, and sometimes their children. If you consider China’s population not in terms of whether they're in rural or urban areas, but by essentially their citizenship status, agricultural, hukou citizens, including both rural people and migrants, still constitute the large majority of the population, maybe close to 65 percent. And for Chinese youth, it’s probably even larger, because of course, fertility is higher in the countryside than it is in the cities. The cities have the one child policy very strictly enforced, but it’s more commonly in the countryside, two children. So, we also know that the Chinese government has recently announced last month, new plans to have a new set of policies about urbanization to both increase urbanization further, but also, they are pledging to eliminate eventually, this distinction between your hukou status, whether you're a rural citizen or an urban citizen, because untill now, you know, rural citizens have been discriminated against and deprived of lots of urban opportunities and privileges. And there have been experiments to try to change this and soften this, but still, it’s very much in place. So, down the road, I am hopeful that these new policies will make a difference, but I am also skeptical, because there have been many promises before to overcome the discrimination against people of rural origin in China. But they haven’t been very successful. It’s important to note, many of you may be familiar, that just in terms of one indicator, the income gap between urban people, urban citizens and rural citizens, ANDERSON COURT REPORTING 706 Duke Street, Suite 100 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190 10 CHINA-2014/04/24 China is perhaps the most unequal country on the entire planet. In 2007, the latest chip survey that’s been published indicated that urban hukou people compared to rural people, the family income gap was about four to one. This was really extraordinarily high. So, all of these means that there have been wide differences in the life situations and opportunities of rural citizens versus urban citizens in China. Again, rural citizens, I mean both people living in the countryside, and also, migrants who came from the countryside. And so, I'm wondering how easy it is to talk about Chinese youth without taking into account this huge divide. So, let me start by talking about my impressions of the situation in recent times for rural citizen youths, still about, as I said, at least 2/3 of all youth have rural citizenship in these terms. First, as I’ve already indicated, they're more likely than their urban counterparts to have a sibling. They're not so likely to be an only child. There also, as I’ve already indicated from talking about the income gap, they're much more likely to grow up in severe poverty. China has made dramatic progress against poverty, but nonetheless, it’s still much more common in the countryside, much deeper. They're also less exposed to the highly commercialized and Internet savvy daily lives of people in the cities. This is closing somewhat the sort of Internet gap. It’s closing. Rural people are becoming more connected, and rural youths particularly, and even more so, migrant youths. But nonetheless, it’s still a higher proportion of people with rural origins that are not totally immersed in this sort of highly commercialized and sort of pop culture -- you know, all of the Internet things. So, the digital divide may be narrowing, but it hasn’t closed much. Rural origin youths face very difficult options in trying to figure out how to ANDERSON COURT REPORTING 706 Duke Street, Suite 100 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190