JC Group brings together the world's brightest minds

Jay Wei, a business pioneer from a small town and member of the millennial generation, seeks to transform people's lives through science

On January 23, the first day of event, Wei delivered a speech on his original thinking that led to the initiation of the Earth Civilization Conference. As a key player in new urbanization, Wei aims to help improve the quality of life for all, in effect, opening the opportunity for growth and self-improvement that he himself had to everyone, no matter their station in life. His experience, growing up in small town, then living through the struggles faced by every small-town boy that tries to strike it out in one of China's teeming cities, and to finally achieve success as the first-generation entrepreneur of his family, left a deep impression on him. With the economic progress and the ongoing urbanization that is taking place in and around China's big cities, the lag in the timeline for similar development in the country's smaller cities and towns has become painfully obvious. Wei said in his speech, "The economic development is the driver of new urbanization, yet, where is economic development headed? I believe that economic development is gradually shifting from quantitative changes to qualitative ones." It is with this thought in mind that Wei invited 14 of the world's brightest minds to attend the conference, so that they could collectively contribute to the qualitative aspects of these changes. He announced that JC Group would invest 10 billion yuan (approx. US$1.56 billion) in establishing the Earth Civilization Fund which would be available to members of the Earth Civilization Conference over the next two years. The scientific results will be directly applied in the construction and management of JC Group's planned towns and the results of the experience will form the basis of future Earth Civilization Conferences, creating a closed loop for transformation through the application of technology.

The world's brightest minds, including several Nobel laureates, gather in Xiamen where each gave a presentation

In addition to the closed-door roundtables, scholars from all walks of life, including several Nobel laureates in medicine, physics, chemistry and economics as well as experts in artificial intelligence, education and the Internet of Things, each delivered awe-inspiring speeches on the trending topics in their respective fields. Edvard Moser, a Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2014, shared his views on the exploration of the human brain in modern medicine and on the in-depth study examining the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Artificial intelligence expert Jerry Kaplan of Stanford University demonstrated how AI has impacted people's lives by altering the organization chart within the typical US company and the bearing that these changes have had on career paths chosen and followed. Citing her personal experience as an example, Amy Chua, a tenured professor at Yale Law School and a leading Chinese-American scholar, provided an analysis and path forward in realizing cultural integration in education. Through the speeches made by experts at the event, we can look forward with increased anticipation to seeing cutting-edge scientific achievements by Earth Civilization Conference members being widely applied in JC Group's planned towns. The massive 10 billion yuan investment is intended to serve as a vehicle for exchanging wealth for knowledge and is a collaboration with the world's brightest minds.

Looking at the level of sophistication that was demonstrated when discussing each topic during the conference, we became more impressed by Jay Wei's charisma and his ability to assemble such a strong roster of participants. Today, most individuals in the workforce or academe end up pursuing short-term interests and reverting to the "law of the jungle". Wei, born at the beginning of the millennial generation, is an example of the power that young minds have to think big and accomplish big things by developing and acting on a vision that takes a long-term view and by exhibiting courageous judgment. Wei's goal is to break the limits of applied science by bringing the development and the application of technology back into the hands of all people and to improve the quality of life for everyone, without money being the be-all and end-all for measuring the success of the effort.

SOURCE JC Group