In a talk at
Peking University, Bill Gates encouraged the students there to seize the
opportunity and accelerate efforts to improve lives around the world.
He
emphasized four areas: fighting the diseases of the poorest, such as malaria;
helping low-income farmers grow more food; developing sources of reliable,
affordable clean energy; and making the most of China’s phenomenally talented
computer scientists.
比爾·蓋茨在北京大學的演講中鼓勵學生抓住機會，加快努力，改善世界各地的生活。
他強調了四個方面：打擊最惡劣的疾病，如瘧疾; 幫助低收入農民種植更多的食物; 開發可靠，負擔得起的清潔能源的來源; 充分發揮中國電腦科學界的才華。
Peking
University Speech: Looking to the Future/北京大學演講：展望未來
影片/取自YouTube，如遭刪除敬請見諒
活動現場
3月24日晚，比爾•蓋茨來到北京大學，發表了題為《中國的未來：慈善、創新與全球領導力》的演講。比爾•蓋茨談到中國在健康和發展領域取得的巨大成就，並再次強調中國在利用創新能力解決全球挑戰方面潛力巨大。以下為中英文演講全文：
比爾•蓋茨在北京大學發表主題演講
中國的未來：創新、慈善與全球領導力
很高興來到北大，特別是在北大即將迎來120周年校慶之際。過去一個多世紀以來，北大在高等教育領域取得了卓越的成就。
自上世紀九十年代以來，我曾多次訪問中國。最初，我來中國主要是因為微軟的工作。十年前，我有幸成為北大榮譽校董；2008年奧運會期間，我在北大現場觀看了中國隊與韓國隊的乒乓球半決賽，這給我留下了難忘的回憶。
大家可能還記得，當年中國隊包攬了乒乓球男單、女單、男團、女團等各項金牌 一 還有兩塊銀牌和兩塊銅牌。對於我這樣的超級乒乓球迷來说，親歷賽場的感覺真是太棒了。
不過，這僅僅是我成為中國“粉絲”的一個小小的理由。更重要的是，中國是一個不斷追求卓越的國度。
隨着中國經濟走向成熟，在應對能源和環境治理等自身挑戰時，中國正在做出大膽的抉擇，盡管這確實艱難。在氣候變化和發展等全球重大議題上，中國也發揮着日益重要的作用。在這樣一個快速變化的時代，世界面臨着諸多不確定因素，中國的作用比以往任何時候都更重要。
全球化究竟能給普通民衆帶來多少好處？富裕國家的質疑有日益增長的趨勢。美國總統大選和英國脫歐公投的結果也印證了在移民、安全和全球發展等議題上，民族主義正在抬頭，出現了國內利益優先的傾向。
我們高興地看到，中國正逐步展現其全球領導力，填補這一缺失。中國足以勝任這一角色。在過去的幾十年裏，中國取得了任何國家都無法企及的成就：幫助數億人民擺脫了貧困和疾病，還以人類歷史上前所未有的規模和速度實現了經濟現代化。
我們雖然不能期望中國去填補富裕國家在發展援助領域留下的缺口，但中國承諾將對非洲的發展援助擴大三倍，真可謂明智之舉。中國在很久以前就認識到，幫助其他國家消除貧困相當於給各國人民創造一個更加穩定和安全的世界。
中國通過中非發展基金等融資機制創新，鼓勵對非投資，這不僅發展了非洲經濟，也為中國産品走向世界開拓了新市場。
中國讓數億人口脫貧是一個不可思議的成就，不過中國的發展並不均衡，迄今仍有4300萬人口生活在極端貧困之中。但令人振奮的是，習近平主席承諾中國將在2020年前消除極端貧困。
我們正在與中國開展新的合作項目，從改善加強農村基本醫療服務、提高兒童營養水平和擴大普惠金融等領域入手探索扶貧創新模式。
中國不僅在解決國內問題方面努力取得新突破，也在利用其對抗貧困和疾病方面的經驗幫助其他國家應對類似挑戰。幾年前我訪問北京的時候，汪洋副總理曾说：“非洲的今天就是我們的昨天。”這句話讓我記憶猶新。現在，來自中國的經驗正在幫助非洲邁向一個嶄新的明天。
這對中國的年輕人來说是一個絶佳的時代。當你們步入社會時，恰逢中國崛起，成為全球發展和創新的中心。全世界的目光都在關注中國，關注你們這些即將走出校門的天之驕子。
接下來，我想和大家在四個方面進行探討。我相信這些領域能夠給你們提供大好機會，充分運用你們的知識，發揮你們的熱情和抱負，推動中國和世界取得更加令人矚目的進步。這四個領域分別是健康、農業、能源和技術。
首先是健康領域。17年前，當梅琳達和我決定成立基金會時，我們不斷問自己：怎麼才能使我們的資源産生最大的影響？很快，我們就意識到健康領域的改善是重中之重。
如果沒有健康的身體，一個人就無法高效地學習或工作，更不用说擺脫貧困和賺錢養家了。
梅琳達和我親眼目睹了中國為自己的人民創造了更加美好的生活，這也促使我們思考如何更好地支持中國的發展。過去的十年裏，我們在中國的工作重心一直放在那些中國尚未完全解決的健康挑戰上，如減少結核病和煙草相關疾病、預防艾滋病病毒傳播以及改善艾滋病患者的治療和關懷等等。
在持續支持這些領域的同時，我們在中國的工作也隨着中國不斷變化的需求和重心而改變。比如，我們看到中國在引領全球健康創新方面潛力巨大。
沒有人能比屠呦呦教授更好地證明中國在這一領域的能力。屠教授是北大校友，也是首位獲得諾貝爾獎的中國女性。
屠教授發現的青蒿素可以有效地治療瘧疾，在南亞、非洲和南美地區輓救了數百萬的生命，堪稱20世紀熱帶病藥物最重要的突破之一。她的貢獻得到了世界的認可。
中國擁有大批才華橫溢的科學家和強大的藥物及疫苗研發能力。因此，當我們為一個新的“全球健康藥物研發中心”項目選址時，中國的勝出毫無懸念。這個中心由蓋茲基金會與北京市政府、清華大學攜手共建，將通過加速藥物研發應對全球衛生和人類健康的挑戰。
今天早些時候，我有機會和幾位正在從事前沿科學研究的中國科學家進行了近距離交流，其中有國家食品藥品監督管理總局國家藥品評審中心的首席科學家何如意博士。他本人的工作，以及食藥監總局正在推行的改革，將為創新打造更為有利的環境。我們正在和食藥監總局合作，吸引更多像何如意博士這樣的專家，幫助提升中國的監管能力，以推動更多中國的醫藥健康産品進入其他發展中國家市場。
如果讓我為中國選擇一個未來重點關注的領域，我希望中國能夠領導世界消滅瘧疾。繼天花和即將被消滅的脊髓灰質炎之后，我們有望在中國的領導下，讓瘧疾成為第三種從地球上消失的人類疾病。
一個多世紀前，瘧疾几乎是所有國家致死率最高的疾病。一百多年來，人類在減少瘧疾致死人數方面取得了巨大的進步。中國正在為消除國內瘧疾有序推進各項工作，很有可能在幾年內實現這一目標。但是，目前世界上仍然有32億人面臨罹患瘧疾的風險。
為在全球範圍內消除瘧疾，我們需要在屠教授發現的青蒿素的基礎上，開發單劑藥物等其他更強有力的工具，並尋求更好的方法，以阻止瘧疾通過蚊蟲在人群中傳播。
中國很有潛力開發一些既高效、又讓發展中國家可負擔的解決方案。在非洲和湄公河流域等瘧疾最為肆虐的地區，我們現在就可以採取更多行動來控制乃至消滅這一疾病——通過分享自己的經驗，中國能夠幫助這些地區的家庭獲得蚊帳，防止被感染。中國還能夠幫助這些國家加強本國的衛生和疾病監控體系，更好地預防、診斷和治療瘧疾。
除了健康領域之外，我認為中國能夠推動全球進步的第二大領域是農業。1975年以來，中國的農業生産率以每年12%的速度增長，是非洲農業年增長率的四倍。農業發展不僅解決了基數巨大且不斷增長的中國人口的溫飽問題，還促進了國民營養和健康水平的改善、農村收入的增加和貧困人口的下降，並向其他産業提供勞動力，從而在整體上推動了中國經濟發展。
引發中國當代綠色革命的因素有很多，其中最重要的一點是中國在農業創新領域的投入以及像袁隆平教授等傑出專家們的努力。袁教授是湖南農業大學的農作物專家，他研究的雜交水稻將水稻畝産量平均提高了20%。
中國在雜交水稻領域取得的持續進步能夠為撒哈拉以南非洲地區數百萬的小農戶帶來巨大的好處，他們中有很多人無法生産足夠的糧食養活家人。
自2008年起，我們支持中國農業科學院和其他科研機構開發水稻新品種。通過將這些品種與塞內加爾、坦桑尼亞和盧旺達等國的本地品種進行雜交，我們將得到高産量的耐逆境作物，增加農民的收成和收入。
但是，隨着全球人口壓力不斷增長，我們還需付出更多努力。
中國科學家最令人矚目的研究成果之一是作物的超級光合作用，這不僅能大幅提升糧食産量，還能減少對灌溉和化肥的需求。
我們還支持中國科學家開展提高家畜健康水平的研究工作，這對發展中國家的食品安全和農村經濟具有至關重要的作用。我們正與中國商務部和農業部合作，共同推進非洲農業的可持續發展。
中國的第三大全球機遇是能源創新。中國目前已經成為可再生能源領域的全球領導者之一，而且最近還宣佈將在2020年前，對可再生能源領域投資3600億美元。無論從中國國內還是全球商業長遠機遇的角度而言，這一舉措都將産生豐厚的回報。
知易行難。中國現在需要找到常規能源和新能源技術的平衡點，這是一個不小的挑戰。我們也需要更多類型的能源，在滿足能源需求的同時實現溫室氣體減排。
中國在這方面能開展的另一項工作就是引領下一代核能技術的發展。下一代核技術將更加安全、廉價，並能克服目前核技術面臨的許多困難。我投資的一家公司正與中國核工業集團公司以及其他中國企業合作，將這一設想變為現實。
我曾與習近平主席多次會面，他在巴黎氣候大會上作出的承諾和領袖風范令我深受鼓舞。中國連同其他21個國家承諾在今后幾年內對清潔能源創新領域的投入增加一倍。
我和馬雲先生，還有一些其他投資者共同成立了一支10億美元的突破能源基金，用於支持早期能源技術開發，將實驗室裏最好的想法轉化為市場産品。
中國擁有巨大潛力的第四個領域是軟件開發。我還在微軟的時候，從中國各大高校走出的計算機科學家和研發人員給我們留下了深刻的印象，直接促使我們在北京成立微軟亞洲研究院，到現在一晃已近二十年。
目前，微軟亞洲研究院仍然是微軟在美國本土以外最大的基礎研究機構，聚集了200多名全球頂尖的研究和開發人員以及300多名訪問學者和實習生。
研究院最大的優點是研究人員可以自由地探索自己最感興趣的領域，只有這樣才有可能實現像微軟小冰這樣的突破。小冰是一款人工智能聊天機器人，在座有人可能已經在微博上和她聊過天，在電視上看她播報過天氣預報，或者在《錢江晚報》上讀過她的專欄。
小冰目前已經吸引了4500萬名粉絲。她非常善於同時處理多項工作，最多可以同時和23個人聊天。而且我聽说小冰現在已經能夠感知用戶情緒，甚至在別人失戀時給予安慰。
除了為微軟開發新技術外，亞洲研究院還幫助已經有好産品的軟件創業人員擴大業務規模。在過去兩年時間裏，從“微軟加速器”項目畢業的125家公司中的大部分都獲得了追加的投資，而且其中有三家創業型企業已經成功上市。
亞洲研究院還支持奔跑在通向成功道路上的軟件開發人員。我們在中國已經招募了5000多名實習生。有一個消息一定會讓你們感到開心——過去三年裏從北大招募的實習生數量比清華多。但是差距並不大。所以，在座計算機專業的各位同學們，你們要加把勁！
技術毋庸置疑正在推動中國公益慈善事業的發展。2015年，公衆通過中國四大在綫捐助平台所捐贈的善款高達9.66億人民幣。
騰訊公益基金會幾年前發起的“9？9公益日”取得了巨大的成功。這證明當人們擁有便捷的途徑參與公益、回饋社會時，他們往往都會付諸行動。去年，在三天時間裏，600萬公衆募集了高達3.05億元人民幣的善款，為3600余個項目提供了支持。这只是公益慈善事業在中國蓬勃發展的一個例子。
馬雲、馬化騰、陳一丹、牛根生等一批成功的企業家已經令中國個人財富總值躍居世界第二，他們正積極採取各種行動參與公益、回饋社會。
中國去年生效的《慈善法》為個人參與公益慈善活動開闢了更多途徑。人們積極參加各類重大公益慈善活動，比如去年秋季在北大校園舉辦的第6屆全球社會化媒體與公益峰會，就吸引了衆多年輕人的參與。
你們中的有些人可能會決定加入公益慈善組織，幫助弱勢群體改善生活。不過即使不全職從事這樣的工作，或者沒有很多錢可以捐贈，你們依然可以通過其他方式貢獻自己的力量。你們可以花時間去了解一個新的議題、為某個問題奔走呼籲，或者參與志願服務，這些都很有意義。
大家想想，如果你堅信自己能讓世界變得更美好，這該是多麼令人心潮澎湃、備受鼓舞的事情。而眼下正是大家施展才華的最好時機。
當今，隨着地緣政治風向的變化，中國有機會推動世界在最為緊迫的挑戰上實現突破。中國的領導人正在抓住這一機遇，而傳承這一事業則需要依靠中國的年輕人。
在過去的幾十年間，成千上萬的中國人獲得了事業和財務上的成功。今天在座的許多人將來也會取得同樣的成功。這是一件很棒的事。對我來说，在微軟工作的每一刻都彌足珍貴，如果讓我重新選擇，我一定會選擇再來一次。
后來，在從事慈善工作的過程中，我又遇到許多以其他方式揮灑激情、奉獻才華的人。他們和我一樣，都是樂天行動派——一群堅信現實能夠改變並願意為此付諸行動的人。
他們是大無畏的醫生們，不顧自己的生命危險奮力拯救埃博拉患者的生命；他們是富有創造力的企業家們，通過無人機向偏遠村莊運送救命藥品；他們是來自社會各界的志願者們，心甘情願地幫助那些無家可歸的窮人或面臨生存風險的兒童。
你或許希望每一個在貧窮環境下成長的孩子都能獲得足夠的營養，以便在學校取得最好的成績；你或許希望研發一種能夠保護孩子免受瘧疾威脅的疫苗；你或許希望設計一款電池，在夜晚照亮孩子的書桌，或者研發一項移動技術，有朝一日能幫助孩子開辦自己的公司。
如果這正是你們想要做的，就放手去做吧。沒有比現在更好的時機，也沒有比現在更好的環境了。你們每個人都擁有很棒的機會，我對你們未來所能取得的成就充滿期待。謝謝！
Thank you, Professor Lin. It’s great to be here today. Beida has a long history and I’m sure that, next year, as you celebrate its 120th anniversary, you will look back on the incredible contributions it has made to this country.
I’ve been coming to China since the early 1990s, initially for my work at Microsoft.
Ten years ago, I was privileged to be named an honorary trustee here at Beida. I remember what a great time I had here in 2008 watching the Olympic table tennis semi-finals between China and South Korea.
As I’m sure you remember, China took the gold medal in every category—the men’s singles, the women’s singles, the men’s and women’s team events. That was on top of two silver and two bronze medals. For someone who’s as big of a fan of table tennis as I am, it was an incredible moment to witness.
And it highlights in one way, the incredible potential China has. This is a country on a quest for excellence, not only to improve itself but to contribute to the whole world.
As China’s economy matures, it is making bold and difficult choices on challenges like energy and pollution. And China is assuming a greater role on critical global issues like climate and development. This matters now more than ever as the world navigates a time of change and uncertainty.
In some rich countries, there is skepticism about how well globalization works for ordinary people. The results of the U.S. presidential election and the Brexit vote in the UK underscore the temptation to turn inward on issues like migration, security, and global development.
It’s great to see China stepping up to fill the leadership vacuum. It is uniquely well-equipped to do so. No other country has accomplished what China has achieved in the last few decades—breaking the relentless cycle of poverty and disease for hundreds of millions of people while modernizing its economy at a scale and speed unprecedented in human history.
Although China can’t be expected to fill a gap in development aid from wealthy countries, it has made a smart choice in tripling its commitment to African development. China has long understood that helping other countries lift themselves out of poverty creates a more stable and secure world for people everywhere.
And by encouraging investment through innovative financing mechanisms like the China-Africa Development Fund, China is strengthening not only Africa’s economic capacity, but also, over time, markets for Chinese goods.
It’s also great to see President Xi’s commitment to eliminate extreme poverty in China by 2020. China did a great job lifting millions out of poverty. But progress has been uneven. Forty-three million people are still living in extreme poverty.
Our foundation looks forward to a new partnership with China that will focus on innovative ways to reduce poverty—through better nutrition and healthcare in rural areas, and by increasing access to financial services for the poor.
China isn’t just striving to reach new heights at home. It is using its own experience fighting poverty and disease to help other countries tackle similar challenges. When I was in Beijing a few years ago, Vice Premier Wang Yang said something that stayed with me. He said: “Africa today is our yesterday.” Now, China is using the lessons it has learned to usher in a new tomorrow for Africa, too.
This is a pretty incredible time to be a young person in China. Your generation’s entrance into the workforce will coincide with your country’s rise as a center of global progress and innovation. The world’s eyes are on China . . . and as the generation now coming of age, the world’s eyes are specifically on all of you.
So, I’d like to spend the rest of my time with you today talking about four areas where I think there are exciting opportunities to use your education, your passion, and your opportunities to unlock more amazing progress—for both China and for the world. Specifically, health, agriculture, energy, and technology.
First, health. When Melinda and I started our foundation 17 years ago, we asked ourselves: how can we use our financial resources to make the greatest impact? It didn’t take long to realize that improving health was at the top of the list.
When people aren’t healthy, they can’t learn in school or be productive at work. They’re unable to seize economic opportunities or do any of the things they need to do to lift themselves out of poverty.
Melinda and I saw the example of China creating a better life for its people, and it inspired us to see if there was a way to support China’s progress. Over the last decade, our work in China has focused on several of the most persistent domestic health challenges — specifically reducing the incidence of tuberculosis and tobacco-related diseases, preventing HIV transmission, and improving treatment and care for people living with AIDS.
While we are continuing to support progress in these areas, our work in China is evolving along with China’s new priorities. For example, China has a great opportunity to be a global leader in health innovation.
No one exemplifies this better than Professor Tu Youyou. As I’m sure most of you know, Professor Tu is a Beida graduate and the first woman in China to win a Nobel Prize.
Professor Tu was recognized for her discovery of artemisinin, a powerful medicine used to treat malaria. This was one of the most significant breakthroughs in tropical medicine in the 20th century and it has saved millions of lives.
With its rich pool of talented scientists and its capacity to develop new drugs and vaccines, China was a clear choice for us to locate a new Global Health Drug Discovery Institute. This institute—a collaboration between our foundation, the Beijing Municipal Government, and Tsinghua University—will help speed the discovery and development of new lifesaving medicines.
I had a chance earlier today to meet with some of the Chinese scientists who are driving cutting edge research. For instance, Dr. He Ruyi is the Chief Scientist at the Center for Drug Evaluation of the Chinese Food and Drug Administration (CFDA). His work—and the reforms being carried out by his agency—will create an environment where innovation can thrive. We are working with the CFDA to bring in more experts like Dr. Ruyi to help improve its regulatory capacity so more Chinese health products can be made accessible to the entire world, including developing countries.
One area that China has an incredible chance to lead in is in reducing and eventually eradicating malaria. With China’s leadership, we stand a chance to make malaria the third human disease—after smallpox and, soon, polio—to be wiped off the face of the earth.
A little more than a century ago, malaria was a leading cause of death in nearly every country on earth. There has been great progress since then, and China is on track to eliminate malaria completely in the next few years. But more than 3.2 billion people around the world still live in areas where there’s a risk of malaria infection.
To achieve the goal of global eradication, we need to build on Professor Tu’s discovery of artemisinin and develop more powerful tools—like a single-dose cure and better ways to block transmission of malaria from mosquitos to humans.
China has the potential to develop these new high-impact solutions at a cost that developing countries can afford. We can start today by controlling and eliminating malaria in places like the Mekong River basin and in Africa.
Drawing on lessons learned from its own experience, China can help ensure that every family has bed nets to protect them from infection. And it can help countries strengthen their health and disease surveillance systems to better diagnose, treat, and prevent future cases of malaria.
That’s health. The second area where I believe China can drive global progress is agriculture. Since 1975, Chinese agricultural productivity has grown at a rate of 12 percent per year—four times the annual rate of growth in Africa.
That hasn’t just fed a large and growing population. It has led to better nutrition and health, higher rural incomes, falling poverty rates, and more labor available to other sectors to drive China’s economic development.
There are many factors that accounted for China’s recent green revolution. One of the most significant is its commitment to agricultural innovation and the work of people like Professor Yuan Longping. A crop scientist at Hunan Agricultural University, Professor Yuan developed hybrid rice varieties that increased crop yields by 20 percent.
China’s continuing advances in rice could be of enormous benefit to millions of smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, many of whom today are barely growing enough to feed their families and who will face more difficult weather conditions in the decades ahead.
Since 2008, we have been supporting work by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and others to develop new varieties of rice that—when crossed with domestic varieties in countries like Senegal, Tanzania, and Rwanda—will result in high-yielding, stress-tolerant crops that will boost farmer yields and income. But to feed a growing planet, we need to do more.
One of the most exciting efforts is research by Chinese scientists to supercharge the process of photosynthesis in grains. This would significantly increase crop yields while reducing the demand for irrigation and fertilizer.
We also are supporting research by Chinese scientists to improve the health of livestock, which plays a vital role in food security and the rural economy of developing countries. And we are working with the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the Ministry of Agriculture to promote sustainable agricultural development throughout Africa.
This brings me to what I think of as China’s third global opportunity: energy innovation. China already is one of the world leaders in renewable energy. And it recently announced that it will spend $360 billion on renewable power sources by 2020. This will pay off handsomely for China domestically, and as a long-term global business opportunity.
It won’t be easy. China faces a big challenge domestically sorting out the right mix of existing and new energy technologies. Many forms of energy will be needed to reduce greenhouse gases and meet energy needs.
One of the things China could do is pioneer next-generation nuclear technology. It will be dramatically safer and substantially cheaper and solve a lot of the challenges with today's nuclear energy. I have a company, TerraPower, that is partnering with China National Nuclear Corporation and other Chinese companies to make this a reality.
I’ve had the opportunity to meet several times with President Xi and am encouraged by his commitment— and by his leadership at the Paris Climate talks. China was one of the 22 countries that committed to doubling their investments in clean energy innovation over the next five years.
I’m also working with Jack Ma and other investors who have pledged to invest $1 billion in the development of early stage energy technology so we can move the best ideas from the research lab to the marketplace.
A fourth area where I see great potential for China is software. When I was at Microsoft, we were so impressed by the quality of computer scientists and developers coming out of universities in China that we established one of our first research labs in Beijing. That was almost 20 years ago.
Today, it is Microsoft’s largest research center outside the U.S.. It’s a phenomenal place, with 200 of the world’s top researchers and developers and more than 300 visiting scientists and fellows.
The best thing about it is that researchers are free to explore what they’re most passionate about, which leads to breakthroughs like Xiaoice, a natural-language chat bot that simulates human conversation.
Some of you may have had conversations with Xiaoice on Weibo, or seen her weather forecasts on TV, or read her column in the Qianjiang Evening News.
Xiaoice has attracted 45 million followers and is quite skilled at multitasking. And I’ve heard she’s gotten good enough at sensing a user’s emotional state that she can even help with relationship breakups.
Besides developing new technologies for Microsoft, the Beijing lab also helps software entrepreneurs who have a great product ideas and need help scaling their business. In the last two years, most of the 125 companies that graduated from the Microsoft Accelerator program were able to secure additional funding. And three of the startups have gone public.
The Beijing lab also supports up-and-coming software developers. We’ve hired more than 5,000 interns in China. And you’ll be happy to know that we’ve recruited more students in the last three years from Beida than from Tsinghua University. But it’s a slim lead, so those of you here in computer science, will have to keep up your good work!
Technology is also helping to power the philanthropic sector in China. It’s a growing sector and one with tremendous potential. In 2015, people contributed 966 million RMB to causes they care about using the four largest online donation platforms.
And the success of 9/9 Charity Day, started a few years ago by the Tencent Foundation, shows what is possible when people have an easy way to get involved and give back. In just three days last year, 6 million people—people like you—raised 305 million RMB in support of more than 3,600 projects. This is just one example of how philanthropy is beginning to blossom here in China.
A lot of the most successful entrepreneurs, like Jack Ma, Pony Ma, Charles Chen Yidan and Niu Gensheng, have helped create the world’s second largest pool of individual wealth. And now they’re taking steps to get involved and give back.
The new charity law that took effect last September opens up more opportunities for people to get engaged. People are coming together at events like the sixth China Social Good Summit held at Beida last fall.
Some of you may decide to work for NGOs that are making life better for the most vulnerable in society. But even if you don’t end up doing that, or to make big financial donations, there are other ways of getting involved. Just the fact that you’re learning about a topic, lending your voice to an issue, or volunteering your time, is important.
What an incredible, motivating thing that is—the belief that you can make the world a better place. There has never been a better moment.
As the geopolitical currents shifts, China has an opportunity to advance progress on the most urgent challenges the world faces. China's leaders are embracing this opportunity, but it will be up to China’s youth to carry this forward.
In the last few decades, millions of people in China have achieved professional and financial success. I’m sure all of you will too, and that's a great thing. I certainly enjoyed every moment at Microsoft and wouldn’t trade it for anything.
But now I’ve also had the opportunity in my philanthropic work to meet people who apply their talents and passion in other ways. Many of these people are impatient optimists. People who believe in the possibility of change and are eager to do something about it.
Doctors courageous enough to risk their own lives to save the lives of others suffering from Ebola. Entrepreneurs using their ingenuity to deliver life-saving drugs to remote villages by drone. And people of all walks of life who volunteer their time to help the homeless or mentor a child at risk.
Maybe you are the person who wants to ensure that every child growing up in poverty has the nutrition they need to do their best in school. Maybe you want to develop the next vaccine that protects everyone from malaria. Maybe you want to design the battery that lights people’s desks at night, or the mobile technology that will allow people to start new businesses.
No matter what your ambition is to improve the world, this is the best time and the best place to do it, and all of you have a great opportunity. I look forward to seeing what you’ll achieve. Thank you!
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