Editor's note: The Communist Party of China will hold its 19th National Congress on Oct 18. In the runup to the meeting, China Daily asked two prominent experts to provide their views on developments in China and the country's global leadership.

It was during a meal with 10 elderly law professors in 1998 that Jeffrey S. Lehman, vice-chancellor of NYU Shanghai, was first inspired to become a bridge between his native United States and China.

At the time, he was dean of the University of Michigan Law School and had been invited to China on a business trip. The aging academics, all former faculty at the school, suggested grabbing dinner after hearing he'd be in town.