Am 23. und 24. November 2016 fand der siebte “Hamburg Summit: China meets Europe” in der Handelskammer Hamburg statt. Li Yizhong, Vorsitzender des Industrieverbands China-Europe Friendship Award, verlieh Gerhard Schröder, dem letzten Bundeskanzler der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, den “China-Europe Friendship Award”. Hier finden Sie die übersetzte Rede:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In my capacity as Chairman of the China Federation of Industrial Economics and co-host of the “Hamburg Summit” it is my great honour to present to you this year´s awardee of the China-Europe Friendship Award:

It is Mr. Gerhard Schröder, Former Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany and new Honorary Chairman of the “Hamburg Summit: China meets Europe”!

After being active as a Member of the German Bundestag, he was elected as Minister-President of the State of Lower Saxony in 1990.

Eight years later, Mr. Schröder was sworn in as the seventh Chancellor of Germany in 1998 and remained in office until 2005.

During his time as Chancellor, Mr. Schröder visited China once a year and thus strongly contributed to deepening the good relations between China and Germany.

He very early realized that Europe and China do need each other in order to tackle the big international challenges like the pursuit of sustainable economic growth, climate change, energy safety and reliable energy supply, migration and the fight against terrorism.

Mr. Schröder was convinced that all this can only be mastered by joint efforts.

That is why he implemented a close cooperation and coordination between the Chinese and the German government.

As far as I know Mr. Schröder still continues travelling to China – on a private and on a professional basis, but always with the focus to link both countries and cultures closer together.

Therefore I would like to specifically laud Gerhard Schröder’s ongoing efforts to enhance our bilateral relationship.

Dear Mr. Schröder,

Thank you so much for your outstanding contribution to the Sino-European relations and your personal support of the “Hamburg Summit: China meets Europe” acting as its new Honorary Chairman.

This is highly appreciated from the Chinese side!

It is my great joy and honor to be the first to congratulate you. Please join me now on stage to accept the “China-Europe Friendship Award”.

Dear Mr. Schröder,

This is your applause!