Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 10th China-US Business Summit! Special thanks to Congresswomen Judy Chu and to the founder of the Huff Strategy, my old friend Bob Huff and his wife, Mei Mei. Thank you as well to all the mayors who came to the event during your busy schedules. Thank you to the founders of China-US Business Summit, its shareholders, and many Chinese entrepreneurs from afar, welcome!
For the opening of the 10th China-US Business Summit annual event, no language can accurately express my gratitude to all of you. Mr. Xianhong Sun and Mr. Yong Chen, without your investments ten years ago, there would be no such organization called “China-US Business Summit.” Mr. Panfeng Xu, Mr. Xinjin Fan, without your generous investment in China-US Business Summit, the summit would not have lasted to today. There is also a member of Congress who has joined us since the opening of the summit 10 years ago: Judy Chu has been in the ribbon-cutting ceremony since the start of the summit. Additionally, there are Mr. and Mrs. Huff, who have been attending press conferences in Beijing since the very first one. China-US Business Summit is growing under your undeniable support.
Ten years ago, when "China-US Business Summit" was just a concept, a plan only on black and white paper, Mr. Sun and Mr. Chen believed in me, and then the concept became a reality in a high-end annual summit. When people suspected the summit would only waste money and not make money, Mr. Xu and Mr. Fan chose to believe in me and merged funds, and thus the summit was able to continue. In the most difficult times of the economy, I mortgaged the house in Beijing for the summit to grow stably. This year, everyone made time to join us on the 10th China-US Business Summit, which brings an unprecedented event to one where no one will doubt whether our China-US Enterprise Summit will be able to last for another ten or twenty years!
This is a significant year of China-US Business Summit through 10 years. Along with the summit’s growth, I learned to grow as an adult as well. The 10th anniversary of the summit marks a special ten years of my life.
When others no longer asked “how many years can the summit last," I began to ask myself this question. I am 60 years-old, and in order to answer this question well, I did something like this today—
I asked the mother of my child to bring him to the scene. We helped our son sign words on the signature wall next to the red carpet as a young individual who witnessed the summit. Today, it is also my son’s second birthday. My wife and I will do our best to ensure he grows up happy and healthy, just as I promised the steady growth of the summit. I can't ensure he will take over the summit in the future, but when he grows up, he will definitely see his father and mother's hopes for him. Regardless of his career in the future, we will cultivate his vision and social responsibility as a messenger of China-US exchanges.
Today, the son of my brother, Zhong Shen, and my nephew, Yuchen Shen, is also present at our event with us. He is 19 years-old and can fluently speak five foreign languages. He has now become a visionary and responsible young man.
In fact, it is not that important for my son to take over the China-US Business Summit, nor it is as important for it to be taken over by my family at all. The summit does not belong to me only; the summit is a platform for China-US non-governmental exchanges. It is built for Chinese and American entrepreneurs and belongs to everyone here.
What is the commemoration of the 10th anniversary? Members have had various suggestions, and I have tried countless plans in my mind. I eventually denied having a commemorative album and the construction of a memorial wall. I thought we should do something meaningful, a matter that meets the purpose of the China-US Business Summit—building a private platform for China-US exchanges. It is best to continue this forever. Thus, I began to pay attention to the families who have adopted abandoned Chinese babies. I began to study this part of history. I found that foreigners adopting Chinese children dates back to more than 100 years ago. Statistically, the United States is the first country for number of adoptions, and this country accounts for nearly 70% of all overseas-adopted Chinese children. I found that nearly 100,000 Chinese adoptees have been adopted in the United States in the past 20 years!
I also found that although Chinese people also adopt, they prefer to adopt children who are perfectly healthy. However, families in America do not have as much of a preference and clearly want to adopt Chinese children with disabilities. With this type of adoption, the family often has to adjust their standard of living, just like the Lumpkins family, whom I have invited to the summit today. Since they have adopted six babies from China with disabilities, the family had to replace their original Lexus car for a used, second-hand Toyota.
When I learned all about this, I thought that our China-US Business Summit should do something for them, because we can't see these families struggle financially just to give love to these children!
For these reasons, I founded a charity called, "A Perfect Love," and I believe that the charity that I created will last as long as our summit. This is not because I am extraordinary, but because I firmly believe that everyone's heart has the pursuit of good and love.
Thanks to my wife, Dongling Su, she knows that the $30,000 she donated will limit her ability to buy things for the family, but she never complained. This is not because she has too much money, but because she is also a mother.
Thank you to Sunstone, founded by my younger brother Zhong Shen, which helped freely launch the first public welfare fund from China-US Business Summit. Like the large funds in the world, I will donate the money generated by its operation to these families every year. The money donated as principal will always be in there. This is also the best for everyone who is willing to donate money to this business, because the money they donate will always be in this pool of funds, and the foundation will continue to develop.
This is what I think we should do in the 10th anniversary of the China-US Business Summit. It allows these families, who have given great love, to see that Chinese people also have love without borders. Let the world know that China is a nation that knows how to appreciate. It can also allow American families to ease their plights in life and encourage them to keep going.
At the same time, the foundation can make Chinese children in these families to grow better. In the end, it can encourage more loving families to adopt abandoned children in China.
I feel that doing this well is the best commemoration of our summit, because this is a permanent memorial across the Pacific!
Chair of China-US Business Summit Steven Shen