世博大家談：美好城市離不開個人貢獻

我很榮幸能夠受瑞士政府之邀，擔(dān)任中國2010年上海世博會瑞士館的總代表，親身參與這場盛會。“總代表”是一項非常重要的工作。作為在中國改革開放最初就來到中國，并一直關(guān)注中國、不斷了解中國、始終熱愛中國的外國人，我真誠希望能夠利用自己的經(jīng)驗和對中國的熟悉，幫助瑞士增進對中國的了解，同時也幫助中國更好地了解瑞士，促進兩國之間的緊密合作。

我是中國的老朋友。1978年改革開放之初，我受瑞士一家企業(yè)的委托，第一次來到中國，籌辦中外合資企業(yè)。那時，我對這個陌生的國家充滿了好奇。至今印象深刻的是，那時的中國婦女們留著整齊劃一的發(fā)型，衣服顏色暗沉，人們的思想觀念也較為保守。后來，我多次來到中國，也曾作為瑞士駐華大使常駐中國。上世紀(jì)90年代初，我開始收藏中國的當(dāng)代藝術(shù)品，與中國的藝術(shù)家們交流，通過他們的眼睛、他們的經(jīng)歷來了解這個國家的歷史文化和人民生活。我有幸見證了這個國家的巨變，親身參與了這個國家改革開放的進程。短短30年，中國萬象更新，煥發(fā)出勃勃生機，如今的活力四射世界有目共睹。

但同時，我也看到了經(jīng)濟快速發(fā)展給中國帶來的城市發(fā)展問題，如對環(huán)境造成了一定程度的破壞，以及城鄉(xiāng)發(fā)展的差距等。我相信，正是基于對這些問題的認識和憂慮，上海世博會最終將主題確定于“城市，讓生活更美好”。這超越了過去世博會主要展現(xiàn)科技發(fā)明進步成果的范疇，開創(chuàng)性地為全世界提供了一個共同探討城市發(fā)展問題的平臺。這充分展現(xiàn)了中國直面發(fā)展中問題的勇氣和決心，也充滿了前瞻性的智慧。

經(jīng)濟快速發(fā)展帶來的城市問題已是世界范圍內(nèi)一個非常熱門而棘手的問題，各國都在尋找解決問題的 “鑰匙”。如今中國面臨的許多狀況，瑞士當(dāng)年也曾遇到。瑞士和中國乍一看并無太多共同點，瑞士的國土面積小，人口只有740萬。它不像中國有那么廣闊的國土和龐大的人口，人均資源稀缺。但事實上兩國面臨一些相同的發(fā)展問題。如人口密度都很大，很多土地都不適合居住，瑞士1/3的土地都是巖石、森林和湖。因此，瑞士長期以來，一直在尋找城鄉(xiāng)和諧、人與自然融洽相處的可持續(xù)發(fā)展道路。

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 Swiss 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 this country at the very start of its reforms and opening-up 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 unvarying hairstyle and gloomy-colored suits and how people stuck to their traditional ideology. After that, I revisited this country several times and once resided there as the Swiss Ambassador to China. In the early 1990s, I started collecting modern Chinese artwork and communicating with Chinese artists, through whose eyes and experiences I have understood this country's history and culture and the lives of its people. It has been an honor for me to witness the fundamental changes in China and to personally participate in its reforms and opening-up policies. 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 glamour.

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, this 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. It is not as vast or populated as China 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, between human beings and nature.