——歸國留學(xué)生如何成為中國改革的生力軍
成千上萬在美國學(xué)習(xí)過的中國人是中國快速改革經(jīng)濟(jì)的生力軍。 隨著改革的成功進(jìn)行,受過西方教育的中國人開始尋求高級政府工作。 留學(xué)生回國最大的影響在于加快中國的開放步伐,引入更多的新觀念。 歸國的留學(xué)生可能會對未來中國的發(fā)展產(chǎn)生重大影響。
Edward Tian said good-bye to Lubbock, Tex., his pickup truck, horseback riding, and seven years of studying broom snakeweed to return to Beijing in 1995. He took home a Texas Tech University doctorate in range management and a small Internet software company that he co-founded in Dallas. Now the company, Asia info, has $50 million in annual sales and 400 employees and is building much of China’s Internet backbone. “I wanted to do something to change people’s lives in the next five years, not the next 200 years,” says Tian, now 35.
愛德華·田告別了得克薩斯州拉伯克市,告別了他的輕型小貨車,告別了縱馬馳騁的時光,告別研究了7年的金雀花屬蛇草專業(yè),于 1995年回到北京。他帶回來的不僅有得州理工大學(xué)牧場管理學(xué)博士學(xué)位,還有一個小型互聯(lián)網(wǎng)軟件公司棗亞洲信息公司(Asia info)。這是他與別人合伙在達(dá)拉斯創(chuàng)立的。目前該公司的年銷售額已高達(dá)5000萬美元,擁有400名雇員,并且在中國因特網(wǎng)的發(fā)展中成為骨干力量。今年35歲的田博士說:“我想做些具體事來盡快改變?nèi)藗兊纳钏?,力爭在未?年之內(nèi)而不是未來漫長的200年。”
Tens of thousands of Chinese who studied in the U.S. have the same idea. Mostly in their 30s and 40s, they are the new dynamos in China’s fast-reforming economy. Many, like Tian, are starting entrepreneurial companies. Some are running economics departments at major Chinese schools. Others are advising banks, stock markets, and government ministries how to adapt to the global economy.
成千上萬在美國學(xué)習(xí)過的中國人都有同樣的觀點(diǎn)。他們大多三四十歲,是中國快速變革經(jīng)濟(jì)的生力軍。許多人像田博士那樣已開始創(chuàng)建企業(yè)或公司;有些人回到了中國重點(diǎn)大學(xué)的經(jīng)濟(jì)系任教;另外一些人則當(dāng)起了銀行、股票市場和政府部門的顧問,就如何與世界經(jīng)濟(jì)接軌提出積極建議。
3]The returnees come back with much more than salable skills. They have a grasp of how the outside world works that stay-at-home Chinese don’t. Massachusetts Institute of Technology doctoral physicist Charles Zhang, 33, for example, is trying to steer Beijing away from the heavy-handed state planning used by South Korea and Japan. “The entrepreneurial, market-driven approach is what makes good technology,” he says.
回國者帶回來的不僅僅是暢銷的技能。他們熟諳美國和世界其他國家的運(yùn)作方式,而這正是許多未出國門的人所欠缺的。今年33歲的查爾斯·張(張朝陽)是美國麻省理工學(xué)院物理學(xué)博士,目前正在試圖使中國擺脫韓國和日本曾實(shí)行過的沉舊的國家計劃體制。他說:“只有通過富有創(chuàng)新的、以市場為動力的途徑才能促進(jìn)技術(shù)的進(jìn)步。”
Furthermore, Zhang and people like him open new private channels between the U.S. and China. His company, Internet Technologies China Inc., is a gateway into China for U.S. and other foreign companies. Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, and Ericsson, for instance, all advertise on ITC’s Web site, one of the most popular in China with 280,000 hits per day.
此外,張朝陽以及許多像他那樣的人正在開拓中美之間新的民間溝通渠道。張朝陽的公司“愛特信公司”(Internet Technologies China)是美國和其他外國公司進(jìn)入中國的門戶之一。微軟、惠普、摩托羅拉和愛立信等公司都在愛特信網(wǎng)頁上刊登廣告。愛特信公司的網(wǎng)頁已成為中國最受歡迎的網(wǎng)頁之一,每日訪問者達(dá)28萬人次。
Even more important, outfits such as Zhang’s are a promising new way of piping foreign investment into China. Traditionally, such inflows have been filtered through clumsy and one-sided joint ventures in which foreigners have few rights. ITC, however, was set up with $225,000 in seed money from MIT professors, including Nicholas Negro Ponte, founding director of the MIT Media Laboratory and co-founder of Wired magazine. Zhang received $2 million more investment from Intel Corp. And other U.S. companies in March.
更重要的是,類似張所創(chuàng)辦的公司也是一個吸引更多外資流入中國的重要途徑。傳統(tǒng)的外資注入渠道主要是合資企業(yè)方式,而那些合資企業(yè)則往往不是很靈活,外國投資方也沒有什么權(quán)利。然而,愛特信公司22.5萬美元的創(chuàng)建費(fèi)就來自麻省理工學(xué)院教授們的風(fēng)險基金,其中包括麻省理工學(xué)院媒體實(shí)驗室創(chuàng)始人、《連結(jié)》雜志的創(chuàng)辦人之一尼可拉斯·尼葛羅龐帝。今年3月,張朝陽還從英特爾公司和其他幾家美國公司獲得了200萬美元的投資。
China needs more than entrepreneurial drive, however. Rebuilding the superstructure of a modern market economy is essential. Returnees such as former New York Stock Exchange economist Wang Boming, 42, are key architects in the restoration. For a fraction of his Wall Street salary, he joined a team to set up China’s new stock exchanges in 1988. These days, he is a publisher “trying to educate people how to manage their wealth.”
然而,中國需要的不僅僅是開始性的工作,而且重要的是必須重新建立適合現(xiàn)代市場經(jīng)濟(jì)的上層建筑。歸國留學(xué)生是這一重建工程中的“設(shè)計師”。42歲的前紐約證券交易所經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家王波明(音譯)于1988年回國,與其他人一起擔(dān)負(fù)起建立中國新的證券交易所的任務(wù)。而他的工資只是他在華爾街任職時的零頭。如今他是一位出版商,“正在試圖教人們怎樣理財。”
As reforms succeed, Western-educated Chinese will start to move into senior government jobs. Zhang Xiang, 57, armed with a PhD in economics from New York’s Columbia University, became vice-minister at the Foreign Trade & Economic Cooperation Ministry this year. He may be able to avoid Sino-U.S. misunderstandings.
隨著改革的成功進(jìn)行,受過西方教育的中國人開始尋求高級政府工作。57歲的張翔(音譯)是紐約哥倫比亞大學(xué)的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)博士,今年被任命為中國外經(jīng)貿(mào)部的副部長。他也許能使中美之間避免產(chǎn)生誤解。
The returnees’ biggest impact may be in opening up China to a flow of new ideas. U.S.-minted doctoral economists are remaking China’s university departments. Leading the way is Beijing University’s prestigious China Center for Economic Research. The Center’s influence extends far beyond its campus. Faculty, all Western-educated, are favorite invitees to panels debating economic policy. “We try to provide an independent view to Chinese leaders,” says Deputy Director Hai Wen, 46, a University of California at Davis alum.
留學(xué)生回國最大的影響可能在于加快中國的開放步伐,引入更多的新思想。在美國獲得博士學(xué)位的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家們正在對中國大學(xué)的教育體系進(jìn)行大膽的改革。由具有西方學(xué)位的歸國留學(xué)生組成的北京大學(xué)中國經(jīng)濟(jì)研究中心已成為這一改革的開路先鋒。中國經(jīng)濟(jì)研究中心的影響力已遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超出了北大校園。中心的研究人員經(jīng)常受邀出席經(jīng)濟(jì)問題研討會,并頗受歡迎。加州大學(xué)戴維斯分校的畢業(yè)生、46歲的中心副主任海文(音譯)說:“我們盡力給中國領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人提供一個獨(dú)立的觀點(diǎn)。”
Those from the the classes of 1998 and onward who do go home could have a dramatic impact on China’s future. Their predecessors are getting things started, but they need all the help they can get.
那些1998年畢業(yè)的中國留學(xué)生和他們的后來者回國后可能會對未來中國的發(fā)展產(chǎn)生重大影響。他們的前輩們正在開辟出一條道路,但他們需要得到一切可以得到的幫助。