TED Talks, Yang Lan: The generation that's remaking China

Yang Lan: The generation that's remaking China

The night before I was heading for Scotland, I was invited to host the final of "China's Got Talent" show in Shanghai with the 80,000 live audience in the stadium. Guess who was the performing guest? Susan Boyle. And I told her, "I'm going to Scotland the next day." She sang beautifully, and she even managed to say a few words in Chinese: 送你葱 So it's not like "hello" or "thank you," that ordinary stuff. It means "green onion for free." Why did she say that? Because it was a line from our Chinese parallel Susan Boyle -- a 50-some year-old woman, a vegetable vendor in Shanghai, who loves singing Western opera, but she didn't understand any English or French or Italian, so she managed to fill in the lyrics with vegetable names in Chinese. (Laughter) And the last sentence of Nessun Dorma that she was singing in the stadium was "green onion for free." So [as] Susan Boyle was saying that, 80,000 live audience sang together. That was hilarious.

So I guess both Susan Boyle and this vegetable vendor in Shanghai belonged to otherness. They were the least expected to be successful in the business called entertainment, yet their courage and talent brought them through. And a show and a platform gave them the stage to realize their dreams. Well, being different is not that difficult. We are all different from different perspectives. But I think being different is good, because you present a different point of view. You may have the chance to make a difference.

Around the same time, I was going through an audition -- the first ever open audition by national television in China -- with another thousand college girls. The producer told us they were looking for some sweet, innocent and beautiful fresh face. So when it was my turn, I stood up and said, "Why [do] women's personalities on television always have to be beautiful, sweet, innocent and, you know, supportive? Why can't they have their own ideas and their own voice?" I thought I kind of offended them. But actually, they were impressed by my words. And so I was in the second round of competition, and then the third and the fourth. After seven rounds of competition, I was the last one to survive it. So I was on a national television prime-time show. And believe it or not, that was the first show on Chinese television that allowed its hosts to speak out of their own minds without reading an approved script. (Applause) And my weekly audience at that time was between 200 to 300 million people.

Well after a few years, I decided to go to the U.S. and Columbia University to pursue my postgraduate studies, and then started my own media company, which was unthought of during the years that I started my career. So we do a lot of things. I've interviewed more than a thousand people in the past. And sometimes I have young people approaching me say, "Lan, you changed my life," and I feel proud of that. But then we are also so fortunate to witness the transformation of the whole country. I was in Beijing's bidding for the Olympic Games. I was representing the Shanghai Expo. I saw China embracing the world and vice versa. But then sometimes I'm thinking, what are today's young generation up to? How are they different, and what are the differences they are going to make to shape the future of China, or at large, the world?

So today I want to talk about young people through the platform of social media. First of all, who are they? [What] do they look like? Well this is a girl called Guo Meimei -- 20 years old, beautiful. She showed off her expensive bags, clothes and car on her microblog, which is the Chinese version of Twitter. And she claimed to be the general manager of Red Cross at the Chamber of Commerce. She didn't realize that she stepped on a sensitive nerve and aroused national questioning, almost a turmoil, against the credibility of Red Cross. The controversy was so heated that the Red Cross had to open a press conference to clarify it, and the investigation is going on.

So far, as of today, we know that she herself made up that title -- probably because she feels proud to be associated with charity. All those expensive items were given to her as gifts by her boyfriend, who used to be a board member in a subdivision of Red Cross at Chamber of Commerce. It's very complicated to explain. But anyway, the public still doesn't buy it. It is still boiling. It shows us a general mistrust of government or government-backed institutions, which lacked transparency in the past. And also it showed us the power and the impact of social media as microblog.

Microblog boomed in the year of 2010, with visitors doubled and time spent on it tripled. Sina.com, a major news portal, alone has more than 140 million microbloggers. On Tencent, 200 million. The most popular blogger -- it's not me -- it's a movie star, and she has more than 9.5 million followers, or fans. About 80 percent of those microbloggers are young people, under 30 years old. And because, as you know, the traditional media is still heavily controlled by the government, social media offers an opening to let the steam out a little bit. But because you don't have many other openings, the heat coming out of this opening is sometimes very strong, active and even violent. So through microblogging, we are able to understand Chinese youth even better. So how are they different? First of all, most of them were born in the 80s and 90s, under the one-child policy. And because of selected abortion by families who favored boys to girls, now we have ended up with 30 million more young men than women. That could pose a potential danger to the society, but who knows; we're in a globalized world, so they can look for girlfriends from other countries. Most of them have fairly good education. The illiteracy rate in China among this generation is under one percent. In cities, 80 percent of kids go to college. But they are facing an aging China with a population above 65 years old coming up with seven-point-some percent this year, and about to be 15 percent by the year of 2030. And you know we have the tradition that younger generations support the elders financially, and taking care of them when they're sick. So it means young couples will have to support four parents who have a life expectancy of 73 years old.

So making a living is not that easy for young people. College graduates are not in short supply. In urban areas, college graduates find the starting salary is about 400 U.S. dollars a month, while the average rent is above $500. So what do they do? They have to share space -- squeezed in very limited space to save money -- and they call themselves "tribe of ants." And for those who are ready to get married and buy their apartment, they figured out they have to work for 30 to 40 years to afford their first apartment. That ratio in America would only cost a couple five years to earn, but in China it's 30 to 40 years with the skyrocketing real estate price. Among the 200 million migrant workers, 60 percent of them are young people. They find themselves sort of sandwiched between the urban areas and the rural areas. Most of them don't want to go back to the countryside, but they don't have the sense of belonging. They work for longer hours with less income, less social welfare. And they're more vulnerable to job losses, subject to inflation, tightening loans from banks, appreciation of the renminbi, or decline of demand from Europe or America for the products they produce. Last year, though, an appalling incident in a southern OEM manufacturing compound in China: 13 young workers in their late teens and early 20s committed suicide, just one by one like causing a contagious disease. But they died because of all different personal reasons. But this whole incident aroused a huge outcry from society about the isolation, both physical and mental, of these migrant workers.

These diagrams show a more general social background. The first one is the Engels coefficient, which explains that the cost of daily necessities has dropped its percentage all through the past decade, in terms of family income, to about 37-some percent. But then in the last two years, it goes up again to 39 percent, indicating a rising living cost. The Gini coefficient has already passed the dangerous line of 0.4. Now it's 0.5 -- even worse than that in America -- showing us the income inequality. And so you see this whole society getting frustrated about losing some of its mobility. And also, the bitterness and even resentment towards the rich and the powerful is quite widespread. So any accusations of corruption or backdoor dealings between authorities or business would arouse a social outcry or even unrest.

So through some of the hottest topics on microblogging, we can see what young people care most about. Social justice and government accountability runs the first in what they demand. For the past decade or so, a massive urbanization and development have let us witness a lot of reports on the forced demolition of private property. And it has aroused huge anger and frustration among our young generation. Sometimes people get killed, and sometimes people set themselves on fire to protest. So when these incidents are reported more and more frequently on the Internet, people cry for the government to take actions to stop this.

So the good news is that earlier this year, the state council passed a new regulation on house requisition and demolition and passed the right to order forced demolition from local governments to the court. Similarly, many other issues concerning public safety is a hot topic on the Internet. We heard about polluted air, polluted water, poisoned food. And guess what, we have faked beef. They have sorts of ingredients that you brush on a piece of chicken or fish, and it turns it to look like beef. And then lately, people are very concerned about cooking oil, because thousands of people have been found [refining] cooking oil from restaurant slop. So all these things have aroused a huge outcry from the Internet. And fortunately, we have seen the government responding more timely and also more frequently to the public concerns.

While young people seem to be very sure about their participation in public policy-making, but sometimes they're a little bit lost in terms of what they want for their personal life. China is soon to pass the U.S. as the number one market for luxury brands -- that's not including the Chinese expenditures in Europe and elsewhere. But you know what, half of those consumers are earning a salary below 2,000 U.S. dollars. They're not rich at all. They're taking those bags and clothes as a sense of identity and social status. And this is a girl explicitly saying on a TV dating show that she would rather cry in a BMW than smile on a bicycle. But of course, we do have young people who would still prefer to smile, whether in a BMW or [on] a bicycle.

So in the next picture, you see a very popular phenomenon called "naked" wedding, or "naked" marriage. It does not mean they will wear nothing in the wedding, but it shows that these young couples are ready to get married without a house, without a car, without a diamond ring and without a wedding banquet, to show their commitment to true love. And also, people are doing good through social media. And the first picture showed us that a truck caging 500 homeless and kidnapped dogs for food processing was spotted and stopped on the highway with the whole country watching through microblogging. People were donating money, dog food and offering volunteer work to stop that truck. And after hours of negotiation, 500 dogs were rescued. And here also people are helping to find missing children. A father posted his son's picture onto the Internet. After thousands of resends in relay, the child was found, and we witnessed the reunion of the family through microblogging.

So happiness is the most popular word we have heard through the past two years. Happiness is not only related to personal experiences and personal values, but also, it's about the environment. People are thinking about the following questions: Are we going to sacrifice our environment further to produce higher GDP? How are we going to perform our social and political reform to keep pace with economic growth, to keep sustainability and stability? And also, how capable is the system of self-correctness to keep more people content with all sorts of friction going on at the same time? I guess these are the questions people are going to answer. And our younger generation are going to transform this country while at the same time being transformed themselves.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)

Yang Lan: The generation that's remaking China |Lan||||| Yang Lan: La generación que rehace China Yang Lan: la generazione che sta rifacendo la Cina Yang Lan: Pokolenie, które zmienia Chiny Yang Lan: A geração que está a refazer a China 杨澜重塑中国的一代人

The night before I was heading for Scotland, I was invited to host the final of "China's Got Talent" show in Shanghai with the 80,000 live audience in the stadium. La nuit avant de me rendre en Écosse, j'ai été invité à animer la finale de l'émission "China's Got Talent" à Shanghai devant un public de 80 000 personnes dans le stade. Na noite anterior à minha partida para a Escócia, fui convidado para sediar a final do show "China's Got Talent" em Xangai, com a audiência de 80.000 pessoas no estádio. Guess who was the performing guest? Devinez qui était l'invitée d'honneur ? Adivinha quem foi o convidado? Susan Boyle. |Boyle Susan Boyle. And I told her, "I'm going to Scotland the next day." She sang beautifully, and she even managed to say a few words in Chinese: 送你葱 So it's not like "hello" or "thank you," that ordinary stuff. ||||||||||||||je t'envoie des oignons||||||||||| Ela cantou lindamente e até conseguiu dizer algumas palavras em chinês: 葱你葱 Portanto, não é como "olá" ou "obrigado", essas coisas comuns. It means "green onion for free." Cela signifie "oignon vert gratuit." Significa "cebola verde de graça". Why did she say that? Pourquoi a-t-elle dit cela ? Por que ela disse isso? Because it was a line from our Chinese parallel Susan Boyle -- a 50-some year-old woman, a vegetable vendor in Shanghai, who loves singing Western opera, but she didn't understand any English or French or Italian, so she managed to fill in the lyrics with vegetable names in Chinese. ||||||||||Boyle|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Parce que c'était une réplique de notre parallèle chinoise de Susan Boyle - une femme d'une cinquantaine d'années, vendeuse de légumes à Shanghai, qui adore chanter de l'opéra occidental, mais elle ne comprenait ni l'anglais, ni le français, ni l'italien, alors elle a réussi à remplir les paroles avec des noms de légumes en chinois. Porque era uma linha da nossa paralela chinesa Susan Boyle - uma mulher de 50 anos de idade, uma vendedora de vegetais em Xangai, que adora cantar ópera ocidental, mas como ela não entendia inglês, francês ou italiano, conseguiu para preencher a letra com nomes de vegetais em chinês. (Laughter) And the last sentence of Nessun Dorma that she was singing in the stadium was "green onion for free." ||||||Nessun||||||||||||| (Risos) E a última frase de Nessun Dorma que ela estava cantando no estádio foi "cebola verde de graça". So [as] Susan Boyle was saying that, 80,000 live audience sang together. |||Boyle||||||| That was hilarious.

So I guess both Susan Boyle and this vegetable vendor in Shanghai belonged to otherness. |||||Boyle||||||||| Então, acho que Susan Boyle e esse vendedor de vegetais em Xangai pertenciam à alteridade. They were the least expected to be successful in the business called entertainment, yet their courage and talent brought them through. Ils étaient les moins susceptibles de réussir dans le domaine du divertissement, pourtant leur courage et leur talent les ont aidés à aller de l'avant. Eles eram os menos esperados para serem bem-sucedidos no negócio chamado entretenimento, mas sua coragem e talento os trouxeram adiante. And a show and a platform gave them the stage to realize their dreams. Et un spectacle et une plateforme leur ont donné la scène pour réaliser leurs rêves. E um show e uma plataforma deram a eles o palco para realizar seus sonhos. Well, being different is not that difficult. Eh bien, être différent n'est pas si difficile. Bem, ser diferente não é tão difícil. We are all different from different perspectives. But I think being different is good, because you present a different point of view. You may have the chance to make a difference.

My generation has been very fortunate to witness and participate in the historic transformation of China that has made so many changes in the past 20, 30 years. I remember that in the year of 1990, when I was graduating from college, I was applying for a job in the sales department of the first five-star hotel in Beijing, Great Wall Sheraton -- it's still there. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||Sheraton||| Lembro que, no ano de 1990, quando me formava na faculdade, estava me candidatando a um emprego no departamento de vendas do primeiro hotel cinco estrelas de Pequim, o Great Wall Sheraton - ele ainda está lá. So after being interrogated by this Japanese manager for a half an hour, he finally said, "So, Miss Yang, do you have any questions to ask me?" Então, depois de ser interrogado por esse gerente japonês por meia hora, ele finalmente disse: "Então, senhorita Yang, você tem alguma pergunta a me fazer?" I summoned my courage and poise and said, "Yes, but could you let me know, what actually do you sell?" Reuni coragem e equilíbrio e disse: "Sim, mas você poderia me informar o que realmente vende?" I didn't have a clue what a sales department was about in a five-star hotel. Eu não tinha idéia do que era um departamento de vendas em um hotel cinco estrelas. That was the first day I set my foot in a five-star hotel. Esse foi o primeiro dia em que pisei em um hotel cinco estrelas.

Around the same time, I was going through an audition -- the first ever open audition by national television in China -- with another thousand college girls. |le||||||||||||||||||||||| À peu près à la même époque, je passais un casting -- le tout premier casting ouvert de la télévision nationale en Chine -- avec mille autres jeunes filles universitaires. Na mesma época, eu estava passando por uma audição - a primeira audição aberta pela televisão nacional da China - com outras mil meninas de faculdade. The producer told us they were looking for some sweet, innocent and beautiful fresh face. Le producteur nous a dit qu'il cherchait des visages frais, doux, innocents et beaux. O produtor nos disse que estavam procurando um rosto doce, inocente e bonito. So when it was my turn, I stood up and said, "Why [do] women's personalities on television always have to be beautiful, sweet, innocent and, you know, supportive? Alors quand c'était à mon tour, je me suis levée et j'ai dit : "Pourquoi les personnalités féminines à la télévision doivent-elles toujours être belles, douces, innocentes et, vous savez, solidaires ?" Então, quando chegou a minha vez, levantei-me e disse: "Por que as personalidades das mulheres na televisão sempre têm que ser bonitas, doces, inocentes e, você sabe, solidárias? Why can't they have their own ideas and their own voice?" Pourquoi ne peuvent-elles pas avoir leurs propres idées et leur propre voix ?" I thought I kind of offended them. Je pensais que je les avais un peu offensées. Eu pensei que os ofendi. But actually, they were impressed by my words. Mas, na verdade, eles ficaram impressionados com minhas palavras. And so I was in the second round of competition, and then the third and the fourth. After seven rounds of competition, I was the last one to survive it. So I was on a national television prime-time show. Então, eu estava em um programa de televisão nacional no horário nobre. And believe it or not, that was the first show on Chinese television that allowed its hosts to speak out of their own minds without reading an approved script. E, acredite ou não, esse foi o primeiro programa na televisão chinesa que permitiu que seus apresentadores falassem de si mesmos sem ler um roteiro aprovado. (Applause) And my weekly audience at that time was between 200 to 300 million people. (Aplausos) E minha audiência semanal na época era de 200 a 300 milhões de pessoas.

Well after a few years, I decided to go to the U.S. Bem, depois de alguns anos, eu decidi ir para os EUA and Columbia University to pursue my postgraduate studies, and then started my own media company, which was unthought of during the years that I started my career. |||||||||||||||||inimaginable||||||||| et l'Université Columbia pour poursuivre mes études de troisième cycle, puis j'ai lancé ma propre entreprise de médias, ce qui était inimaginable pendant les années où j'ai commencé ma carrière. e a Columbia University, para prosseguir meus estudos de pós-graduação e, em seguida, fundar minha própria empresa de mídia, algo inédito durante os anos em que iniciei minha carreira. So we do a lot of things. Nous faisons donc beaucoup de choses. I've interviewed more than a thousand people in the past. J'ai interviewé plus d'un millier de personnes dans le passé. Eu entrevistei mais de mil pessoas no passado. And sometimes I have young people approaching me say, "Lan, you changed my life," and I feel proud of that. |||||||||Lan|||||||||| But then we are also so fortunate to witness the transformation of the whole country. Mas também temos a sorte de testemunhar a transformação de todo o país. I was in Beijing's bidding for the Olympic Games. Eu estava na licitação de Pequim para os Jogos Olímpicos. I was representing the Shanghai Expo. Eu estava representando a Shanghai Expo. I saw China embracing the world and vice versa. But then sometimes I'm thinking, what are today's young generation up to? Mas então, às vezes, estou pensando: o que estão fazendo a geração jovem de hoje? How are they different, and what are the differences they are going to make to shape the future of China, or at large, the world? En quoi sont-ils différents, et quelles sont les différences qu'ils vont apporter pour façonner l'avenir de la Chine, ou du monde en général ? Como eles são diferentes e quais são as diferenças que eles farão para moldar o futuro da China ou do mundo em geral?

So today I want to talk about young people through the platform of social media. Aujourd'hui, je veux parler des jeunes à travers la plateforme des réseaux sociaux. First of all, who are they? Tout d'abord, qui sont-ils ? [What] do they look like? Well this is a girl called Guo Meimei -- 20 years old, beautiful. |||||||Meimei||| She showed off her expensive bags, clothes and car on her microblog, which is the Chinese version of Twitter. |||||||||||microblog||||||| And she claimed to be the general manager of Red Cross at the Chamber of Commerce. ||a affirmé||||||||||||| Et elle prétendait être la directrice générale de la Croix-Rouge à la Chambre de Commerce. E ela alegou ser a gerente geral da Cruz Vermelha na Câmara de Comércio. She didn't realize that she stepped on a sensitive nerve and aroused national questioning, almost a turmoil, against the credibility of Red Cross. Elle ne s'est pas rendu compte qu'elle avait touché un nerf sensible et suscité des interrogations nationales, presque une tourmente, contre la crédibilité de la Croix-Rouge. Ela não percebeu que pisou em um nervo sensível e despertou questionamentos nacionais, quase um tumulto, contra a credibilidade da Cruz Vermelha. The controversy was so heated that the Red Cross had to open a press conference to clarify it, and the investigation is going on. La controverse était si intense que la Croix-Rouge a dû organiser une conférence de presse pour clarifier la situation, et l'enquête est en cours. A controvérsia foi tão acalorada que a Cruz Vermelha teve que abrir uma conferência de imprensa para esclarecê-la, e a investigação está em andamento.

So far, as of today, we know that she herself made up that title -- probably because she feels proud to be associated with charity. Jusqu'à présent, à ce jour, nous savons qu'elle a elle-même inventé ce titre -- probablement parce qu'elle est fière d'être associée à une œuvre de charité. Até agora, sabemos até hoje que ela mesma criou esse título - provavelmente porque se sente orgulhosa de estar associada à caridade. All those expensive items were given to her as gifts by her boyfriend, who used to be a board member in a subdivision of Red Cross at Chamber of Commerce. ||||||||||||||||||||||filiale||||||| Todos esses itens caros foram dados a ela como presente pelo namorado, que costumava ser membro do conselho em uma subdivisão da Cruz Vermelha na Câmara de Comércio. It's very complicated to explain. But anyway, the public still doesn't buy it. Mas de qualquer maneira, o público ainda não compra. It is still boiling. Ainda está fervendo. It shows us a general mistrust of government or government-backed institutions, which lacked transparency in the past. Isso nos mostra uma desconfiança geral do governo ou de instituições apoiadas pelo governo, que careciam de transparência no passado. And also it showed us the power and the impact of social media as microblog.

Microblog boomed in the year of 2010, with visitors doubled and time spent on it tripled. le microblog|||||||||||||| O microblog cresceu no ano de 2010, com os visitantes dobrando e o tempo gasto com isso triplicou. Sina.com, a major news portal, alone has more than 140 million microbloggers. Sina||||||||||| Só o Sina.com, um importante portal de notícias, possui mais de 140 milhões de microbloggers. On Tencent, 200 million. |Tencent| The most popular blogger -- it's not me -- it's a movie star, and she has more than 9.5 million followers, or fans. About 80 percent of those microbloggers are young people, under 30 years old. ||||microblogueurs|||||| And because, as you know, the traditional media is still heavily controlled by the government, social media offers an opening to let the steam out a little bit. E porque, como você sabe, a mídia tradicional ainda é fortemente controlada pelo governo, a mídia social oferece uma abertura para deixar o vapor sair um pouco. But because you don't have many other openings, the heat coming out of this opening is sometimes very strong, active and even violent. Mais parce que vous n'avez pas beaucoup d'autres ouvertures, la chaleur sortant de cette ouverture est parfois très forte, active et même violente. So through microblogging, we are able to understand Chinese youth even better. ||microblogging||||||||| Ainsi, grâce au microblogging, nous sommes capables de comprendre encore mieux la jeunesse chinoise. So how are they different? Alors, en quoi sont-ils différents ? First of all, most of them were born in the 80s and 90s, under the one-child policy. Primeiro de tudo, a maioria deles nasceu nos anos 80 e 90, sob a política do filho único. And because of selected abortion by families who favored boys to girls, now we have ended up with 30 million more young men than women. E por causa do aborto selecionado por famílias que favoreciam meninos para meninas, agora acabamos com 30 milhões a mais de homens do que mulheres. That could pose a potential danger to the society, but who knows; we're in a globalized world, so they can look for girlfriends from other countries. Isso poderia representar um perigo potencial para a sociedade, mas quem sabe; estamos em um mundo globalizado, para que possam procurar namoradas de outros países. Most of them have fairly good education. A maioria deles tem uma educação bastante boa. The illiteracy rate in China among this generation is under one percent. A taxa de analfabetismo na China entre esta geração é inferior a um por cento. In cities, 80 percent of kids go to college. But they are facing an aging China with a population above 65 years old coming up with seven-point-some percent this year, and about to be 15 percent by the year of 2030. Mas eles estão enfrentando uma China envelhecida, com uma população acima de 65 anos, chegando a sete pontos - alguns por cento este ano, e cerca de 15 por cento até o ano de 2030. And you know we have the tradition that younger generations support the elders financially, and taking care of them when they're sick. E você sabe que temos a tradição de que as gerações mais novas apóiam financeiramente os idosos e cuidam deles quando estão doentes. So it means young couples will have to support four parents who have a life expectancy of 73 years old. Isso significa que casais jovens terão que apoiar quatro pais que têm uma expectativa de vida de 73 anos.

So making a living is not that easy for young people. College graduates are not in short supply. Os graduados não são escassos. In urban areas, college graduates find the starting salary is about 400 U.S. Dans les zones urbaines, les diplômés universitaires constatent que le salaire de départ est d'environ 400 dollars américains par mois, Nas áreas urbanas, os graduados acham que o salário inicial é de cerca de 400 US dollars a month, while the average rent is above $500. tandis que le loyer moyen dépasse 500 dollars. So what do they do? Que font-ils alors? They have to share space -- squeezed in very limited space to save money -- and they call themselves "tribe of ants." Eles precisam dividir o espaço - espremido em um espaço muito limitado para economizar dinheiro - e se autodenominam "tribo de formigas". And for those who are ready to get married and buy their apartment, they figured out they have to work for 30 to 40 years to afford their first apartment. E para aqueles que estão prontos para se casar e comprar seu apartamento, eles descobriram que precisam trabalhar por 30 a 40 anos para comprar seu primeiro apartamento. That ratio in America would only cost a couple five years to earn, but in China it's 30 to 40 years with the skyrocketing real estate price. |||||||||||||||||||||flambée||| Essa proporção na América custaria apenas cinco anos para ganhar, mas na China são 30 a 40 anos com o preço disparado dos imóveis. Among the 200 million migrant workers, 60 percent of them are young people. They find themselves sort of sandwiched between the urban areas and the rural areas. Eles se encontram meio que imprensados entre as áreas urbanas e as rurais. Most of them don't want to go back to the countryside, but they don't have the sense of belonging. La plupart d'entre eux ne veulent pas retourner à la campagne, mais ils n'ont pas le sentiment d'appartenance. A maioria deles não quer voltar para o campo, mas não tem o sentimento de pertencer. They work for longer hours with less income, less social welfare. Ils travaillent plus longtemps avec un revenu moindre, moins de protections sociales. And they're more vulnerable to job losses, subject to inflation, tightening loans from banks, appreciation of the renminbi, or decline of demand from Europe or America for the products they produce. |||||||||||||||||renminbi||||||||||||| Et ils sont plus vulnérables aux pertes d'emploi, soumis à l'inflation, au resserrement des prêts des banques, à l'appréciation du renminbi ou à la baisse de la demande en provenance d'Europe ou d'Amérique pour les produits qu'ils produisent. E são mais vulneráveis a perdas de empregos, sujeitas à inflação, à contração de empréstimos dos bancos, à valorização do renminbi ou ao declínio da demanda da Europa ou da América pelos produtos que produzem. Last year, though, an appalling incident in a southern OEM manufacturing compound in China: 13 young workers in their late teens and early 20s committed suicide, just one by one like causing a contagious disease. |||||||||OEM|||||||||||||||||||||||| No ano passado, porém, um incidente terrível em um complexo de fabricação OEM do sul da China: 13 jovens trabalhadores no final da adolescência e no início dos 20 anos cometeram suicídio, apenas um por um como causar uma doença contagiosa. But they died because of all different personal reasons. But this whole incident aroused a huge outcry from society about the isolation, both physical and mental, of these migrant workers. Mas todo esse incidente despertou um enorme clamor da sociedade sobre o isolamento, físico e mental, desses trabalhadores migrantes.

For those who do return back to the countryside, they find themselves very welcome locally, because with the knowledge, skills and networks they have learned in the cities, with the assistance of the Internet, they're able to create more jobs, upgrade local agriculture and create new business in the less developed market. So for the past few years, the coastal areas, they found themselves in a shortage of labor. Ainsi, depuis quelques années, les zones côtières se sont trouvées en manque de main-d'œuvre. Nos últimos anos, nas áreas costeiras, eles se viram em falta de mão-de-obra.

These diagrams show a more general social background. Ces diagrammes montrent un contexte social plus général. The first one is the Engels coefficient, which explains that the cost of daily necessities has dropped its percentage all through the past decade, in terms of family income, to about 37-some percent. ||||||coefficient|||||||||||||||||||||||||| Le premier est le coefficient d'Engels, qui explique que le coût des nécessités quotidiennes a diminué son pourcentage tout au long de la dernière décennie, en termes de revenu familial, à environ 37 %. O primeiro é o coeficiente de Engels, que explica que o custo das necessidades diárias diminuiu sua porcentagem ao longo da última década, em termos de renda familiar, para cerca de 37%. But then in the last two years, it goes up again to 39 percent, indicating a rising living cost. Mais ensuite, au cours des deux dernières années, il remonte à 39 pour cent, ce qui indique une augmentation du coût de la vie. The Gini coefficient has already passed the dangerous line of 0.4. |Gini|||||||| Le coefficient de Gini a déjà franchi la ligne dangereuse de 0,4. Now it's 0.5 -- even worse than that in America -- showing us the income inequality. Maintenant, il est de 0,5 -- même pire qu'aux États-Unis -- ce qui nous montre l'inégalité des revenus. Agora é 0,5 - ainda pior do que nos Estados Unidos - nos mostrando a desigualdade de renda. And so you see this whole society getting frustrated about losing some of its mobility. Et donc, vous voyez toute cette société se frustrer de perdre une partie de sa mobilité. E você vê toda a sociedade frustrada por perder parte de sua mobilidade. And also, the bitterness and even resentment towards the rich and the powerful is quite widespread. Et aussi, l'amertume et même le ressentiment envers les riches et les puissants sont assez répandus. E também, a amargura e até o ressentimento em relação aos ricos e poderosos são bastante difundidos. So any accusations of corruption or backdoor dealings between authorities or business would arouse a social outcry or even unrest. Donc, toute accusation de corruption ou de manigances occultes entre les autorités ou les entreprises susciterait un tollé social ou même des troubles. Portanto, quaisquer acusações de corrupção ou transações secretas entre autoridades ou empresas provocariam protestos sociais ou até inquietação.

So through some of the hottest topics on microblogging, we can see what young people care most about. ||||||||microblogging||||||||| Assim, através de alguns dos tópicos mais quentes do microblog, podemos ver o que os jovens mais se importam. Social justice and government accountability runs the first in what they demand. La justice sociale et la responsabilité gouvernementale sont les premières choses qu'ils exigent. A justiça social e a responsabilidade governamental são as primeiras no que eles exigem. For the past decade or so, a massive urbanization and development have let us witness a lot of reports on the forced demolition of private property. ||||||||||||||||||||||démolition||| Depuis environ une décennie, une urbanisation et un développement massifs nous ont permis de constater de nombreux rapports sur la démolition forcée de propriétés privées. Nos últimos dez anos, uma urbanização e desenvolvimento maciços nos deixaram testemunhar muitos relatórios sobre a demolição forçada de propriedades privadas. And it has aroused huge anger and frustration among our young generation. Et cela a suscité une énorme colère et frustration parmi notre jeune génération. Sometimes people get killed, and sometimes people set themselves on fire to protest. Às vezes as pessoas são mortas, e outras às vezes pegam fogo para protestar. So when these incidents are reported more and more frequently on the Internet, people cry for the government to take actions to stop this. Portanto, quando esses incidentes são relatados com mais e mais frequência na Internet, as pessoas reclamam que o governo tome medidas para impedir isso.

So the good news is that earlier this year, the state council passed a new regulation on house requisition and demolition and passed the right to order forced demolition from local governments to the court. ||||||||||||||||||||démolition|||||||||||||| Donc, la bonne nouvelle, c'est qu'au début de cette année, le conseil d'État a adopté un nouveau règlement sur la réquisition et la démolition de maisons et a transféré le droit d'ordonner des démolitions forcées des gouvernements locaux aux tribunaux. Portanto, a boa notícia é que, no início deste ano, o conselho estadual aprovou um novo regulamento sobre requisição e demolição de casas e aprovou o direito de ordenar demolições forçadas dos governos locais ao tribunal. Similarly, many other issues concerning public safety is a hot topic on the Internet. De même, de nombreux autres problèmes concernant la sécurité publique sont un sujet brûlant sur Internet. We heard about polluted air, polluted water, poisoned food. Nous avons entendu parler de l'air pollué, de l'eau polluée, de la nourriture empoisonnée. And guess what, we have faked beef. Et devinez quoi, nous avons de la viande de boeuf factice. They have sorts of ingredients that you brush on a piece of chicken or fish, and it turns it to look like beef. Ils ont toutes sortes d'ingrédients que vous appliquez sur un morceau de poulet ou de poisson, et cela ressemble à du boeuf. And then lately, people are very concerned about cooking oil, because thousands of people have been found [refining] cooking oil from restaurant slop. Et dernièrement, les gens s'inquiètent beaucoup de l'huile de cuisson, car des milliers de personnes ont été trouvées en train de raffiner de l'huile de cuisson à partir des déchets des restaurants. E, ultimamente, as pessoas estão muito preocupadas com o óleo de cozinha, porque milhares de pessoas foram encontradas [refinando] o óleo de cozinha da piscina de restaurantes. So all these things have aroused a huge outcry from the Internet. Então, todas essas coisas despertaram um enorme clamor da Internet. And fortunately, we have seen the government responding more timely and also more frequently to the public concerns. E, felizmente, vimos o governo responder com mais rapidez e também com mais frequência às preocupações do público.

While young people seem to be very sure about their participation in public policy-making, but sometimes they're a little bit lost in terms of what they want for their personal life. Bien que les jeunes semblent être très sûrs de leur participation à l'élaboration des politiques publiques, ils sont parfois un peu perdus en ce qui concerne ce qu'ils veulent pour leur vie personnelle. China is soon to pass the U.S. La Chine va bientôt dépasser les États-Unis. as the number one market for luxury brands -- that's not including the Chinese expenditures in Europe and elsewhere. en tant que premier marché pour les marques de luxe – cela ne prend pas en compte les dépenses chinoises en Europe et ailleurs. como o mercado número um de marcas de luxo - isso não inclui as despesas chinesas na Europa e em outros lugares. But you know what, half of those consumers are earning a salary below 2,000 U.S. dollars. They're not rich at all. They're taking those bags and clothes as a sense of identity and social status. Eles estão levando essas malas e roupas como um senso de identidade e status social. And this is a girl explicitly saying on a TV dating show that she would rather cry in a BMW than smile on a bicycle. Et c'est une fille qui dit explicitement dans une émission de télé-réalité sur le rendez-vous amoureux qu'elle préférerait pleurer dans une BMW que sourire sur un vélo. E essa é uma garota dizendo explicitamente em um programa de namoro na TV que preferia chorar em um BMW a sorrir em uma bicicleta. But of course, we do have young people who would still prefer to smile, whether in a BMW or [on] a bicycle. Mais bien sûr, nous avons des jeunes qui préféreraient toujours sourire, que ce soit dans une BMW ou sur un vélo. Mas é claro que temos jovens que ainda preferem sorrir, seja em uma BMW ou em uma bicicleta.

So in the next picture, you see a very popular phenomenon called "naked" wedding, or "naked" marriage. Donc, sur la prochaine image, vous voyez un phénomène très populaire appelé "mariage nu" ou "mariage dénudé". Então, na próxima foto, você vê um fenômeno muito popular chamado casamento "nu" ou casamento "nu". It does not mean they will wear nothing in the wedding, but it shows that these young couples are ready to get married without a house, without a car, without a diamond ring and without a wedding banquet, to show their commitment to true love. And also, people are doing good through social media. Et aussi, les gens font du bien grâce aux réseaux sociaux. E também, as pessoas estão fazendo o bem através da mídia social. And the first picture showed us that a truck caging 500 homeless and kidnapped dogs for food processing was spotted and stopped on the highway with the whole country watching through microblogging. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||le microblogging Et la première photo nous a montré qu'un camion enfermant 500 chiens errants et kidnappés pour le traitement de la nourriture a été repéré et arrêté sur l'autoroute, avec tout le pays regardant à travers le microblogging. E a primeira foto nos mostrou que um caminhão enjaulado com 500 cães desabrigados e seqüestrados para processamento de alimentos foi avistado e parado na estrada com o país inteiro assistindo através de microblogging. People were donating money, dog food and offering volunteer work to stop that truck. Les gens faisaient des dons d'argent, de nourriture pour chiens et offraient du bénévolat pour arrêter ce camion. As pessoas estavam doando dinheiro, comida de cachorro e oferecendo trabalho voluntário para parar o caminhão. And after hours of negotiation, 500 dogs were rescued. E após horas de negociação, 500 cães foram resgatados. And here also people are helping to find missing children. A father posted his son's picture onto the Internet. Um pai postou a foto de seu filho na Internet. After thousands of resends in relay, the child was found, and we witnessed the reunion of the family through microblogging. |||||||||||||||||||microblogging Depois de milhares de reenvios em revezamento, a criança foi encontrada e testemunhamos a reunião da família através de microblogging.

So happiness is the most popular word we have heard through the past two years. Portanto, felicidade é a palavra mais popular que ouvimos nos últimos dois anos. Happiness is not only related to personal experiences and personal values, but also, it's about the environment. A felicidade não está relacionada apenas a experiências e valores pessoais, mas também ao meio ambiente. People are thinking about the following questions: Are we going to sacrifice our environment further to produce higher GDP? As pessoas estão pensando nas seguintes perguntas: Vamos sacrificar ainda mais nosso ambiente para produzir um PIB mais alto? How are we going to perform our social and political reform to keep pace with economic growth, to keep sustainability and stability? Como vamos realizar nossa reforma social e política para acompanhar o crescimento econômico, manter a sustentabilidade e a estabilidade? And also, how capable is the system of self-correctness to keep more people content with all sorts of friction going on at the same time? E também, qual é a capacidade do sistema de autocorreção para manter mais pessoas satisfeitas com todos os tipos de atrito acontecendo ao mesmo tempo? I guess these are the questions people are going to answer. And our younger generation are going to transform this country while at the same time being transformed themselves. E nossa geração mais jovem vai transformar esse país e ao mesmo tempo se transformar.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)