Home » Supplement » Germany
Oktoberfest for diplomatic ties
By Yao Minji |
October 3, 2012, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE German Consulate General's office in Shanghai has remained in the same house on Yongfu Road for the past 30 years. The Spanish-style residence with a garden, built in 1935, represents the city's history that has fused Chinese and foreign cultures.
The beautiful house, and the equally splendid residence only 30 numbers down the road, housed German diplomats since the office opened in Shanghai on October 15, 1982.
The 30th anniversary of the opening is one of three significant October dates for the consulate, which is responsible for Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, in addition to Shanghai. The Day of German Unity is on October 3 and the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China is on October 11.
"With a historical outlook, bilateral relations actually date back even further, as the first consulate office was founded in Shanghai all the way back to 1852, before it was even called Germany," Dr Wolfgang Roehr, former and current consul general of Germany to Shanghai, tells Shanghai Daily. He took up his post for a second time in 2010.
"October will be an eventful month for Germans and friends of Germany in this jurisdiction," he says, citing a host of activities.
A reception will be held on October 8 at 6:30pm at the InterContinental Shanghai Expo to celebrate all three occasions.
Various activities include an exhibition of photos taken by Chinese visitors to Germany, opening on October 10.
A documentary film about bilateral relations is expected to be released in November. It includes interviews with a range of people, German and Chinese, with different perspectives. They include Consul General Roehr, who served in the Germany Embassy in Beijing from 1986 to 1989 and from 1996 to 1999. He served as consul general in Shanghai between 2002 and 2006 and returned during the World Expo Shanghai in 2010, to stay on.
Shanghai today has the largest German population in East Asia. The city now has 8,000 registered German residents and the consular jurisdiction contains 11,000.
The city also has the world's largest German Centre, the largest German school in terms of the number of German pupils and the largest German Business Association in terms of German members.
"Bilateral relations have never been better, especially with government consultations held in August. Bilateral collaborations are ever greater and deeper," the consul general says.
Trade is also "extremely good," he says, with nearly 50 percent of European exports to China coming from Germany and more than 7,000 German companies in China. Of those, more than half are in Shanghai and surrounding cities.
Bilateral trade reached US$170 billion in 2011 and is expected to increase this year, with two-fifth of the numbers coming from the consulate's jurisdiction.
German investment in China has continued to grow from a strong base, while Chinese investment in Germany, still a small percentage of all foreign investments, is rising dramatically. Europe's largest economy provides Chinese business with a large market, easy access to other European countries and well-trained sophisticated employees.
Large enterprises from both counties contribute greatly to bilateral trade and investment, but many small-to-medium-size German companies have also done business in China for many years and have performed very well.
Roehr sees even further development potential in fields such as automotive, machinery and chemical products, strong fields for German companies, while he points out that industrial training is a new field for collaborative growth.
With confidence for bilateral collaboration in the future, increasingly more young professionals from Germany are looking for opportunities in Shanghai.
"There are definitely more young Germans coming to Shanghai, as students or interns," says Roehr, adding that young German professionals have great advantages in China.
"Young Germans speak excellent English, which puts them in an advantaged position over their peers from English-speaking countries (since they speak German, Chinese and English). Many have also learned Chinese very well and they are well-trained to be open-minded."
The old China hand offers some advice to young people planning to come to Shanghai:
"Do come, and come with an open mind. Work hard and enjoy life. Don't forget one or the other because they (work and life) are equally important. Try to learn as much Chinese as you can because it pays off economically, but also because it is a beautiful language to learn and it widens your experience," he says.
"Make Chinese and international friends in Shanghai, but also leave Shanghai from time to time to travel to the rest of China, because the country is much larger than this city and the rest is very different from the experience here."
Eased visa rules
The number of Chinese tourists to Germany has been increasing, making Shanghai the fourth-largest visa-issuing place for Germany in the world, while Beijing holds the third spot.
Because of increasing demand, the consulate will launch a new visa process on November 1. Chinese applicants are no longer required to come in person, but may send their paperwork through a third-party company.
German community
Shanghai today has the largest German population in East Asia with 8,000 registered German residents.
The city also has the world's largest German Centre, the largest German school in terms of the number of German pupils and the largest German Business Association in terms of German members.
50%
Nearly 50 percent of European exports to China comes from Germany.
7,000
There are more than 7,000 German companies in China. More than half are in Shanghai and surrounding cities.
US$170b
Bilateral trade reached US$170 billion in 2011 and is expected to increase this year.
The beautiful house, and the equally splendid residence only 30 numbers down the road, housed German diplomats since the office opened in Shanghai on October 15, 1982.
The 30th anniversary of the opening is one of three significant October dates for the consulate, which is responsible for Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, in addition to Shanghai. The Day of German Unity is on October 3 and the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China is on October 11.
"With a historical outlook, bilateral relations actually date back even further, as the first consulate office was founded in Shanghai all the way back to 1852, before it was even called Germany," Dr Wolfgang Roehr, former and current consul general of Germany to Shanghai, tells Shanghai Daily. He took up his post for a second time in 2010.
"October will be an eventful month for Germans and friends of Germany in this jurisdiction," he says, citing a host of activities.
A reception will be held on October 8 at 6:30pm at the InterContinental Shanghai Expo to celebrate all three occasions.
Various activities include an exhibition of photos taken by Chinese visitors to Germany, opening on October 10.
A documentary film about bilateral relations is expected to be released in November. It includes interviews with a range of people, German and Chinese, with different perspectives. They include Consul General Roehr, who served in the Germany Embassy in Beijing from 1986 to 1989 and from 1996 to 1999. He served as consul general in Shanghai between 2002 and 2006 and returned during the World Expo Shanghai in 2010, to stay on.
Shanghai today has the largest German population in East Asia. The city now has 8,000 registered German residents and the consular jurisdiction contains 11,000.
The city also has the world's largest German Centre, the largest German school in terms of the number of German pupils and the largest German Business Association in terms of German members.
"Bilateral relations have never been better, especially with government consultations held in August. Bilateral collaborations are ever greater and deeper," the consul general says.
Trade is also "extremely good," he says, with nearly 50 percent of European exports to China coming from Germany and more than 7,000 German companies in China. Of those, more than half are in Shanghai and surrounding cities.
Bilateral trade reached US$170 billion in 2011 and is expected to increase this year, with two-fifth of the numbers coming from the consulate's jurisdiction.
German investment in China has continued to grow from a strong base, while Chinese investment in Germany, still a small percentage of all foreign investments, is rising dramatically. Europe's largest economy provides Chinese business with a large market, easy access to other European countries and well-trained sophisticated employees.
Large enterprises from both counties contribute greatly to bilateral trade and investment, but many small-to-medium-size German companies have also done business in China for many years and have performed very well.
Roehr sees even further development potential in fields such as automotive, machinery and chemical products, strong fields for German companies, while he points out that industrial training is a new field for collaborative growth.
With confidence for bilateral collaboration in the future, increasingly more young professionals from Germany are looking for opportunities in Shanghai.
"There are definitely more young Germans coming to Shanghai, as students or interns," says Roehr, adding that young German professionals have great advantages in China.
"Young Germans speak excellent English, which puts them in an advantaged position over their peers from English-speaking countries (since they speak German, Chinese and English). Many have also learned Chinese very well and they are well-trained to be open-minded."
The old China hand offers some advice to young people planning to come to Shanghai:
"Do come, and come with an open mind. Work hard and enjoy life. Don't forget one or the other because they (work and life) are equally important. Try to learn as much Chinese as you can because it pays off economically, but also because it is a beautiful language to learn and it widens your experience," he says.
"Make Chinese and international friends in Shanghai, but also leave Shanghai from time to time to travel to the rest of China, because the country is much larger than this city and the rest is very different from the experience here."
Eased visa rules
The number of Chinese tourists to Germany has been increasing, making Shanghai the fourth-largest visa-issuing place for Germany in the world, while Beijing holds the third spot.
Because of increasing demand, the consulate will launch a new visa process on November 1. Chinese applicants are no longer required to come in person, but may send their paperwork through a third-party company.
German community
Shanghai today has the largest German population in East Asia with 8,000 registered German residents.
The city also has the world's largest German Centre, the largest German school in terms of the number of German pupils and the largest German Business Association in terms of German members.
50%
Nearly 50 percent of European exports to China comes from Germany.
7,000
There are more than 7,000 German companies in China. More than half are in Shanghai and surrounding cities.
US$170b
Bilateral trade reached US$170 billion in 2011 and is expected to increase this year.
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