新浪尚文

　　在最近的中国之行，我遇到一群来自北京的清华大学学生 - 也就是中国的“哈佛大学”学生。他们是一群中国最好、最聪明的年轻人。考虑到中国学生的勤奋，这能说明许多问题。我问一位穿着粉红毛衣的物理天才女生，她毕业后有何计划？她回答说：“我已经申请了斯坦福大学MBA的奖学金，我毕业后可能会留在美国一段时间，为麦肯锡或硅谷的一家风投公司工作。在这之后，我将会回到中国，开一家自己的公司。在赚到钱之后，我将会退休，移居到欧洲，带着我的父母到处旅行。”

　　当然，这仅是表面上的话。但是，她的人生计划不仅可以告诉我们许多中国精英阶层最优先考虑的事情(接受最好的教育、挣大把的钱、照顾双亲)，同时也告诉我们今天的世界正在发生财富和权力的剧烈变动。西方，尤其是美国这个往日世界上最令人向往的移居地，在中国青年精英的眼中仅是一个暂居之地：在他们开创真正的事业、创造财富之前获得学位、在自己履历上增添一点光环的地方。

　　对于这些年轻人来说，新兴市场很显然是一个获取财富和名声的更好地方 - 他们所处的地方是今后几十年里全球经济增长速度最快的地方。年轻学生世界观中最令人感兴趣的是，欧洲已经完全变成了令人向往的退休之地，在那里你可以享受高尚文化和美丽的风景，不过仅此而已。

　　中国不再认为国际社会应当由美国和欧洲主宰，它这样想是有理由的。

　　The World’s Their Oyster

　　Young Chinese see only opportunity。

　　On a recent trip to China, I met with a group of students at Beijing's Tsinghua University—the Harvard of the Middle Kingdom. These young people were among the best and brightest that their country produces, which, considering the diligence of Chinese students, says a lot. I asked one physics genius in a fuzzy pink sweater what her plans were after graduation. She had already lined up a scholarship to pursue an M.B.A. at Stanford. After that, she said, "I'll probably stay in the U.S. for a while and work at McKinsey or a venture-capital firm in Silicon Valley." Then, she continued, "I'll come back to China and start a company. After I make my money, I will retire and move to Europe, where I'll take my parents traveling."

　　Well, that about covers it. Her life plan says a lot about the priorities of the Chinese elite (get a prestigious education, make gobs of money, take care of Mom and Dad)， but just as much about the seismic shifts of wealth and power happening in the world right now. While the West, and the U.S. in particular, would once have been the ultimate destination for the world's most upwardly mobile, this global elite now views America as a pit stop—a place to get a degree and add some brand value to the résumé before the real business of work and wealth creation begins。

　　To these folks, the emerging markets are clearly a better place to become rich and famous—they are where nearly all the world's growth will take place in the next few decades. What's perhaps most interesting about this young student's world view is that Europe has become a complete also-ran--a kind of posh retirement community where you might enjoy high culture and beautiful scenery but not much else。

　　I was reminded of all this by several news events last week. During the EU-China summit, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao assured European leaders that the Chinese would still buy their currency and that Beijing supported "a stable euro." These are the sorts of ever so slightly superior proclamations that once would have been issued by Western governments to emerging-market subordinates. His statements came just after it emerged that China and Turkey had conducted war games together (another example of a new and much more multilateral world order)， and only a week after the latest Merrill Lynch-Capgemini global-wealth report found that for the first time ever, Asia (led by China) had surpassed Europe in terms of the number of wealthy citizens. (America still holds first place, but by a slimmer margin than ever before。)

　　The Chinese no longer see the international landscape as one to be dominated by the United States and Europe—and rightfully so. As a European Council on Foreign Relations paper put it last week, the Chinese view "Europe's status within international institutions as untenable," which was more than evidenced by the tone taken toward the Greeks at the EU summit last week. Offers to buy the bonds of this basket-case nation were accompanied by Greek support for China's market-economy status and a push for the EU arms-sale embargo to China to be lifted. The message was clear: we'll play our part in stabilizing Europe, but only if there's something in it for us. Clearly, Beijing has lost some of its victim mentality when dealing with the rest of the world. While there's still grousing about China being a "poor" country, it's mainly for PR effect rather than a deeply held belief。

　　Of course, China's growing economic might has yet to translate into the self-confidence needed to spur much-needed political reforms。

　　At the end of my visit, I asked the students I met where they planned to settle after graduation. Most said China. A handful said the United States; two had plans to go to Europe. But one, an engineer to be, gave what I thought was the most foresighted answer of all. "West Africa," he said. "There's opportunity here, but China's very quickly becoming a normal country. I want to go where things are really happening." It's the Middle Kingdom's time—but it won't be forever。

　　(新闻周刊)

　　(解雨)