陈冠希在纽约大学关于中国制造的演讲燃爆全场

Hey guys, actually today I don't even really know why I'm here right now， but I kept getting messages from Jesse, tell me to come and talk to you guys. So I was supposed to come last year so I'm actually in New York. right now doing a music performance tonight. so I decided to take some time and speak with you guys. I don't have a PowerPoint presentation.

I think a few things I wanted to speak to you guys about is the importance of you know the experience of what I've had in working in the Chinese market. I can see that most of us here are Asian, hopefully most of us are Chinese I think, so what Jesse told me. So you know I think one common mistake that a lot of people do is saying it's good for China. It's good for China. so people watch a movie that's Chinese and they say oh that was a good movie for a Chinese movie and for me that doesn't cut it that doesn't make sense to me. Do you understand a movie is a movie. It shouldn't be all because it's a Chinese movie, there's lower standards so what I think is most important especially for all of us. You know we're lucky enough to have a Western education or a Western upbringing is to understand that the level of quality of work does not differ in different countries whenever I do something. I don't think about I'm doing this for China so what is good for China. I believe everything that I do even if it's a Chinese song. I try to think of it as if my friends in America or a person that worked at a radio station they listen to my song what would they think of this song.

Now I'm not thinking I'm not saying that the Chinese market is unimportant it's just that we cannot say to ourselves that okay so I want to work in China and these are the these visa the the guidelines or the the status of what is good because the problem is with that is that a lot of us may be already thinking everyone's like China is the next market, China is the next superpower, China is this and China is that. Okay, there's a lot of money to be made there, okay sure but you cannot lose the integrity of what you do and what you represent for money and at the same time if China is going to become the next superpower or the next place to make business happen then we cannot be working at a barometer of saying this is good for China this everything has to be good on an international level and only then will we be able to be standing proud and say this is Chinese made the reason why I'm saying. This is because when I started clot in I don't even remember man 15 years ago. I remember something very very very very alarming to me is I said were made in China and everyone's like Oh my god that's horrible I said what do you mean why is made in China bad like all these products are getting recalled in America and there's baby products have LED in them or bla bla bla bla bla so everything that I've been doing I've been trying to be made in China creatively designed in China everything is from a Chinese perspective people ask me hey what are you I'm actually born in Canada but I tell people I'm Chinese because you can't deny the fact that I'm Chinese.

Look at me I mean so I say I'm born in Canada but I'm Chinese so when people think I say made in China or this work were based in China and it gives them a bad stigmatism. I have to be very aware of everything that I do and everything that I say so that if someone from an international level is looking at the product that we're making or looking at the creative designs or the ideas that were coming out of we can be proud to say that yeah this is made in China the first time I have went to Nike I told them hey we need to shoot we need to make a shoe and they're like oh well it's you're a Hong kong-based company we've never done products from Hong Kong and I said half your shoes are made in China like what are you talking about like how can you not give us a voice in the international market when you rely on our people to make half of your product it took me three years to keep showing them what we do showing them that we're not you know we're not at a lower level than other creatives so now 10 years later we're still making Nike shoes we've made six pairs of Nike shoes and you know our company is now signed to a Nike deal and that's so perseverance and that's a really really really really hard work and quite honestly every time we make something although 70% of the people that buy it are Chinese we don't think of it that way we think of making a good product now good product it doesn't matter where you go it doesn't matter if you're in Brazil it doesn't matter if you're in Russia it doesn't matter if you're an Ethiopian a good product will sell itself it doesn't have to be it doesn't have to say made we're made we're made we're so I think the importance of all of you guys is to understand that everything that we do we should be doing it for an international level.

I know that a lot of you might return back to China and work and you might start following under that same stigmatism but that is wrong I'm telling you right now it's wrong because you know I hate it when people say oh you look these rappers are the hip hop is really big in China right now and they're like oh this Chinese rap album is good for China and it's like what do you actually mean by that you know like oh well the beat sounds like it's six years old but you know if you actually listen to hip-hop and I go then that's wrong and that's not good and I'm not trying to disrespect these people but I'm trying to say that we live in a very small world now you know like we can take a plane I'm taking a plane tonight I'm going to Shanghai and I'll be there in ten hours and I'm doing another job but it doesn't make my sense of quality level change at all we have to keep knowing what's good and keep bringing what's good so that in China in 10 15 20 50 years whenever it really is our time to step up to the plate we already are trained in offering quality level products or quality level thinking not judged on the level of what's good in China now I totally understand that you know doing business in China is a total different monster than doing different business in say America but the I think one of the the most important things is in China is very hard to speak your mind it's very hard to truly and essentially be yourself but us being exposed to the Internet exposed to the world when we go back we have to we have to really really really stay true to your real roots and stay true to whatever your real inspiration and idea is because we are all global and we are all the same people even though our skin may be a different color it doesn't make any difference so doing something for China should be doing something for the world and you should not lower your standards for that so I feel like that's you know one of the most important things that I wanted to tell you guys today now you know they wanted me to talk to you about some design elements and stuff and you know. I think you can read all read about all that on the internet but I think the most important thing is how to mesh what you know and try to kind of bring it into a larger conversation so that everyone does not have to change what they want to do.

I've never changed what I wanted to do it's been hard really hard but now people are finally telling me that they think that I'm talented and they think that I'm you know a hard worker I mean I haven't changed my work ethic in 10 15 years and I thinkthat's something that we should all should take back is you know people might not understand what you're talking about or what you're thinking but if you have a good idea sooner or later they're gonna jump on and they're gonna start giving you praise and I feel like us as the next voice in generation for China you know we're being at you guys are being educated in New York one of the greatest cities in the world we she when you go back you should not forget what you've seen here and not be like oh I'm back in China and this is how I should act no you're a part of this world and you should act the way that you want to act and represent the things that you want to represent and you know I think that you know like another good example that is hip-hop music I've been doing hip-hop music for 10 15 years and now all of a sudden it's super popular in China so that's an example of my perseverance and my belief in my work and you know.

I think one of the most important things I've ever learned is if you find a job that you love you really don't have to work anymore because you know every day I wake up and I'm doing work yeah I'm doing work I'm consulting for this brand. I'm recording this song I'm designing the shoe but it's not really work to me it's something that I love is something I'm passionate for is something that I want to tell the world so I think what's most important also that I wanted to tell you is you know it might be that all tech is really in right now or I don't know basketball or something right and you're like oh I'm gonna go that market and try to make some money nine out of ten times you will lose because you're only trying to do it for finance finance is secondary passion is first because like I said if you have passion for something no matter how hard it is it's all worth it but if you're just trying to look for a dollar bill there's a lot of places you can find easy money but if you're trying to do something for 10 to 15 years or for your lifetime if you go into an industry that is only because there's money or my mother told me to go do it I feel sorry for you because you're gonna have a horrible life and every day you wake up you're gonna have to be look at yourself in the mirror and you're gonna be sad so I think another thing that I wanted to tell you guys is to believe in yourself and believe in your dreams and really you know find your own groove and stick to it believe in it and no matter if you're doing it in America if you're doing it in China if you're doing it in Japan just do it at the same quality level do not because other people are working at a lower standard or a lower level thinking go down to that level so that you can I don't know I don't really know how to explain it it's something that I've never done I've never bent over for for anybody and I think you know the willpower of yourself will be the testament of Chinese people for the next 50 to 100 years and I think that we are the most important people right now in the world because we have a great chance and we have a we have one of the largest nations we're becoming more and more important on the international level and what is most important is the next generation because right now I can pinpoint so many things that when I go to China what I think are wrong a lot of people say a Edison you can't change this and I said yeah but I'm gonna try and even if I don't succeed if I've like say I've inspired this guy right there you know and he's the next guy then I've done my job because it doesn't have to happen in my lifetime and it doesn't have to happen on myself as long as I really believe in something I hope that in the future it will change so I believe that us as a people we have a very very large responsibility to pinpoint what we think is wrong and to pinpoint exactly how we're gonna make those changes now like I said it might not might not happen in your lifetime but we are the we are the force to make that wave to start going you know so I believe one day we can week eight we really are we really will be maybethe most influential and most powerful country in the world but it's up to you guys.

I mean I'm 37 I'm old so you guys are the young ones so hopefully you guys can really follow your dreams understand what the level D of call level of quality is and and keep at it you know.