The Chinese dream has not only changed the economic landscape of China and the livelihood of Chinese people, but also brought hope to the world as a whole, said William Brown, a U.S. professor and the author of the bestseller Off the Wall: How We Fell for China.

Brown made the comments at a signing ceremony for his new book series Lao Pan's View of China in Beijing on March 20, where he expressed his willingness to write more about China in his upcoming books.

"China has learned a lot from the world, but we also have much to learn from China," Brown, known in China by the name Lao Pan, said. A U.S. professor who has been teaching and living in Xiamen, Fujian Province, since 1988, Brown was the first foreigner to receive permanent residency in Fujian Province. He was honored with the Friendship Award, the top government award for expats, in 1992.

Off the Wall: How We Fell for China, a collection of 47 letters to family and friends in the U.S., was published by Foreign Languages Press, a publishing house affiliated with the China International Publishing Group (CIPG), last year. President Xi Jinping wrote Brown a congratulatory letter, saying that the book provides a unique and intimate eyewitness account of China's reform and opening up, and encouraged Brown to continue presenting the real China to the world.

"In the book, Brown recorded, with delicate words and a unique perspective, the historic and profound changes over the past four decades," CIPG Vice President Lu Cairong said. "Fulfilling the mission of presenting China to the world and sharing our stories globally, CIPG will continue to provide a platform for authors like Brown to offer their multidimensional interpretations of China with multilingual publications so as to help foreigners better understand China."

Copyedited by Rebeca Toledo

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