<P> The Chinese Dream describes a set of ideals in the People's Republic of China . It is used by journalists, government officials and activists to describe the aspiration of individual self - improvement in Chinese society . Although the phrase has been used previously by Western journalists and scholars, a translation of a New York Times article written by the American journalist Thomas Friedman, "China Needs Its Own Dream", has been credited with popularizing the concept in China . He attributes the term to Peggy Liu and the environmental NGO JUCCCE's China Dream project, which defines the Chinese Dream as sustainable development . In 2013 the President of the PRC Xi Jinping began promoting the phrase as a slogan, leading to its widespread use in the Chinese media . </P> <P> The concept of Chinese Dream is very similar to the idea of "American Dream". It stresses entrepreneurship and glorifies a generation of self - made men and women in post-reform China . Such as those rural immigrates who moved to the urban centers and achieve magnificent improvement in terms of their living standards, and social life . Chinese Dream can be interpreted as the collective consciousness of Chinese people during the era of social transformation and economic progress . The main difference is that the American Dream is an already existing phenomenon while the Chinese Dream is being built and popularised fairly recently . </P> <P> The idea was put forward by the new CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping on November 29, 2012 . The government hoped to create a revitalized China, while promoting innovation and technology to restore the international prestige of China . In this light, Chinese Dream, like American exceptionalism, is a nationalistic concept as well . </P>

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