Young Chinese focus on CPC congress, U.S. election

Delegates of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) have arrived in Beijing as of Tuesday, when the world is awaiting the result of another big event -- the U.S. presidential race.

The U.S. election attracts the attention of young Chinese people who regard the election and the CPC National Congress, to open on Thursday, as two major events that will determine the future of the world.

"China and the U.S. will finally find the beauty of co-existence after a long time of competition," said Chen Qiufan, a 31-year-old science fiction writer.

The writer who works at Google, a leading Internet company based in the United States, has been following the two events and believed the relationship between the two countries will have great impact on the world. He also predicted closer bilateral relations in the future.

Chen said that working at an international company has made him focus more on China's issues, which he writes about in his novels. "Sci-fi is an exoteric realism. I believe it is a direct way to discuss the reality instead of pure fantasy.

"My novels mainly express my thoughts on China's realities, including living conditions of marginalized groups, changes in society triggered by the deteriorating environment and the alienation of humans in technology developments," he said.

"I write about the pains in the country because I want it to be better," Chen added.

Economist Tang Jiqiang told Xinhua it is good that the young people are concerned about domestic and international issues as well.

"Young people have better access to information and different education background from the older generations. Globalization and informatization raises new challenges to the ruling party," Tang said.

As the director of the development planning bureau of Hi-tech Development Zone in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, Tang has concerns about the two events, especially the CPC congress.

The political event will be critical to China's future, and together with the American election, it will influence the future direction of the world, he said.

Tang, who is also a researcher at the financial research center of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, said, "Although there appear to be some uncertain elements in China-U.S. relations, the world is more willing to see a healthy and friendly bilateral relationship. I think leaders of the two countries will have enough wisdom to make 'clever' decisions."

Tang said he expected the congress to implement a series of solutions to the challenges that have emerged during three decades of fast development after the reform and opening up policy, such as corruption, uneven income distribution, and the wealth gap.

The economist also expressed his concerns on the new slogan in the American election. "The re-industrialization. The U.S. wants to stimulate industries after its introspection on the virtual economy. The action will definitely influence China. We need to research future industrial relations between the two countries," he said.

Tang pointed out that another challenge for the ruling party in China lies in its external relations.

"China has become the world's second biggest economy, which requires it have deeper and more communication with other nations to increase mutual trust," he said.

Cai Qing, a post-graduate at the Cross-Culture Research Center of Shanghai Jiaotong University who has returned from a communication project in Seattle, told Xinhua that young Chinese people are more curious about the U.S. than American young people are about China.

"Many U.S. experts study China, mainly focusing on the rise of the country. They are interested in the secrets of China's economic growth. Some American teachers and students told me that they are also worried that such a big country with a large population may do some unexpected things," she said.

Cai believed the coming CPC congress will answer some of their questions. It is true that there are misunderstandings between China and the United States, but such misunderstandings can be reduced with more exchanges between young people of the two countries.