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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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IT is a great honor for me to be invited by the Swiss government to personally participate in the pageant of World Expo 2010 Shanghai China as the commissioner-general for the Switzerland Pavilion, which is a very important assignment.
As a foreigner who came to China at the very beginning of its reforms and opening-up and who has always studied the country with persistent attention and love, I sincerely hope that I can use my experience and knowledge to help Switzerland improve its understanding about China. Meanwhile, I will also help China better understand Switzerland to promote close cooperation between the two nations.
I have been an old friend of China. I made my first visit to China at the very start in 1978, when I was appointed by a Swiss company to prepare for the incorporation of a joint venture. At that time, I was full of curiosity about this strange country. I still remember clearly how Chinese women used to wear the same hairstyle and gloomy-colored suits and how people stuck to their traditional ideology.
After that, I revisited the country several times and once resided there as the Swiss Ambassador to China. It has been an honor for me to witness the fundamental changes in China and to personally participate in its reforms and opening-up. In a mere three decades, China has taken on a brand-new look in every aspect and exhibited to the whole world its great vigor and dazzling glamor.
Meanwhile, however, I have also seen how China's rapid economic growth has created some problems, such as environmental damage and a gap between urban and rural development. I believe an understanding and concern about these problems helped motivate this World Expo to choose the theme "Better City, Better Life."
Reaching beyond the scope of its predecessors, which centered their exhibitions on scientific and technological inventions, progress and achievements, Shanghai World Expo has innovatively provided the whole world with a platform for joint discussion about urban development issues. It fully exhibits China's courage and resolution in facing up to problems in its own development and brims with foresight and intelligence.
Since urban problems arising from rapid economic growth have become a hot and thorny issue for the whole world, many nations have been trying to find a "key" for addressing these problems. Switzerland once faced many problems similar to those China is facing today. At the first glance, Switzerland and China seem dissimilar. Switzerland is a small territory with a population of only 7.4 million and suffers a per-capita shortage of resources.
However, the two nations are actually facing some similar development problems such as density of population and large tracts of inhospitable land. One-third of Switzerland's territory consists of rocks, forests and lakes. Over a long time, Switzerland has been looking for an approach to sustainable development to achieve harmony between urban and rural areas, and between human beings and nature.
I am full of confidence for China's ability to handle its environmental problems of water and air pollution. This will be a long, complicated process that cannot be completed overnight. Since China will surely spend a longer time than Switzerland has, it must well prepare itself for this mission that requires the unremitting efforts of several generations.
At this upcoming World Expo, the Switzerland Pavilion themed "Rural-Urban Interaction" will serve as a carrier for our anticipated dialogues with China and the world. The most wonderful part of the pavilion is the cable cars that run every seven minutes.
Escaping from urban noises and boarding a cable car, visitors will be brought to the top of the pavilion to be greeted by a pastoral scene with groves, meadows and the sounds from the natural environment of Switzerland that will give them a feeling of tranquility and peace.
In the pavilion, we will also use pictures and various multimedia technologies to showcase Switzerland's latest achievements and up-to-date concepts related to treatment of air and water pollution, and our great efforts in development of public transport and buildings for sustainable development. I believe some of its good examples may be borrowed by China.
Shanghai is a great city brimming with vigor and vitality and witnessing new changes all the time. In 2008, Beijing amazed the world with its successful Olympic Games. I believe Shanghai will carry the success to a higher level in 2010 by presenting the world with a wonderful World Expo.
I sincerely hope this World Expo will, as expected, facilitate the achievement of better cities and a happier life for people. More importantly, I would like to stress that this goal will be achieved only when every one of us makes some practical contribution to it in our daily life.
As a foreigner who came to China at the very beginning of its reforms and opening-up and who has always studied the country with persistent attention and love, I sincerely hope that I can use my experience and knowledge to help Switzerland improve its understanding about China. Meanwhile, I will also help China better understand Switzerland to promote close cooperation between the two nations.
I have been an old friend of China. I made my first visit to China at the very start in 1978, when I was appointed by a Swiss company to prepare for the incorporation of a joint venture. At that time, I was full of curiosity about this strange country. I still remember clearly how Chinese women used to wear the same hairstyle and gloomy-colored suits and how people stuck to their traditional ideology.
After that, I revisited the country several times and once resided there as the Swiss Ambassador to China. It has been an honor for me to witness the fundamental changes in China and to personally participate in its reforms and opening-up. In a mere three decades, China has taken on a brand-new look in every aspect and exhibited to the whole world its great vigor and dazzling glamor.
Meanwhile, however, I have also seen how China's rapid economic growth has created some problems, such as environmental damage and a gap between urban and rural development. I believe an understanding and concern about these problems helped motivate this World Expo to choose the theme "Better City, Better Life."
Reaching beyond the scope of its predecessors, which centered their exhibitions on scientific and technological inventions, progress and achievements, Shanghai World Expo has innovatively provided the whole world with a platform for joint discussion about urban development issues. It fully exhibits China's courage and resolution in facing up to problems in its own development and brims with foresight and intelligence.
Since urban problems arising from rapid economic growth have become a hot and thorny issue for the whole world, many nations have been trying to find a "key" for addressing these problems. Switzerland once faced many problems similar to those China is facing today. At the first glance, Switzerland and China seem dissimilar. Switzerland is a small territory with a population of only 7.4 million and suffers a per-capita shortage of resources.
However, the two nations are actually facing some similar development problems such as density of population and large tracts of inhospitable land. One-third of Switzerland's territory consists of rocks, forests and lakes. Over a long time, Switzerland has been looking for an approach to sustainable development to achieve harmony between urban and rural areas, and between human beings and nature.
I am full of confidence for China's ability to handle its environmental problems of water and air pollution. This will be a long, complicated process that cannot be completed overnight. Since China will surely spend a longer time than Switzerland has, it must well prepare itself for this mission that requires the unremitting efforts of several generations.
At this upcoming World Expo, the Switzerland Pavilion themed "Rural-Urban Interaction" will serve as a carrier for our anticipated dialogues with China and the world. The most wonderful part of the pavilion is the cable cars that run every seven minutes.
Escaping from urban noises and boarding a cable car, visitors will be brought to the top of the pavilion to be greeted by a pastoral scene with groves, meadows and the sounds from the natural environment of Switzerland that will give them a feeling of tranquility and peace.
In the pavilion, we will also use pictures and various multimedia technologies to showcase Switzerland's latest achievements and up-to-date concepts related to treatment of air and water pollution, and our great efforts in development of public transport and buildings for sustainable development. I believe some of its good examples may be borrowed by China.
Shanghai is a great city brimming with vigor and vitality and witnessing new changes all the time. In 2008, Beijing amazed the world with its successful Olympic Games. I believe Shanghai will carry the success to a higher level in 2010 by presenting the world with a wonderful World Expo.
I sincerely hope this World Expo will, as expected, facilitate the achievement of better cities and a happier life for people. More importantly, I would like to stress that this goal will be achieved only when every one of us makes some practical contribution to it in our daily life.
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