Brown China Summit highlights Chinese Dream

A "China Summit" with the theme of "My Chinese Dream" kicked off on the campus of Brown University here on Saturday.

The event, the first of its kind in the history of the Ivy League university, was organized by a group of Brown students from China and sponsored by the Watson Institute for International Studies of the university.

During the two-day summit, some 20 guest speakers from the United States, China and Europe will share with the audience their understanding of the Chinese Dream, a catchphrase in China today generally categorizing the Chinese people's efforts for individual success and national prosperity, and their own experiences in fulfilling personal dreams.

With varied backgrounds, the speakers, among whom are successful U.S. businessmen investing in China and the headmaster of a Chinese school for the kids of rural migrant workers, will join open discussions in four panels, namely education, business, media and art.

In her opening remarks, Brown University President Christina Paxson said that the summit "will be covering some really important topics."

"You'll think wise about what China has been, what it would become, what are some of the tensions and pressure points for moving forward, and what can the U.S. and other countries around the world learn from China," she elaborated.

"I would say the discussion today of the Chinese Dream is very much in heart what I see in Brown's dream," she added.

She also said that "it's terrific to have greater engagement" with China, an increasingly important country in today's world.

Founded in 1764, the Providence, Rhode Island-based Brown University is the seventh-oldest college in the United States.

With China's economic strength and global influence growing and the number of Chinese students coming to study in the United States on a constant rise, the idea of hosting China-related events seems to have gained much popularity among leading U.S. universities.

In recent years, the Harvard China Forum, which Harvard University launched in 1998, has kept expanding. And the University of Pennsylvania held its first UPenn China Forum in October 2013.