PASSING THE BATON



COVER STORY

PASSING THE BATON

As the G20 Hangzhou Summit came to a close， world leaders began drawing their attention to Hamburg， Germany，which will host the 2017 event. Beijing Review reporter Xu Bei spoke with Wolfgang Schmidt， State Secretary of Hamburg，a senior official in charge of the city’s international affairs， in Hangzhou. An edited excerpt of the interview follows:

Beijing Review: The world hopes that China will be able to maintain its growth and its role as a driver of the world economy. For China， finding a new， more sustainable， inclusive and interconnected path of growth and development seems to be paramount. Are these goals that Hamburg and the German Government can relate to？

Wolfgang Schmidt: All governments try to find the most sustainable path to growth and development. When we look at the recent history of China， it is plain to see that the last three or so decades were characterized by a tremendous rate of growth. I think that this is quite normal，given the point at which China started， and the incredible speed at which it caught up. In Western industrialized countries like Germany， the story is quite different—when China started catching up， our economy had already been growing for two or three decades. So， naturally， the rate at which it now grows isn’t that impressive anymore.

Nowadays， we concentrate on sustainable growth. During the last two decades，the topic of ecology has become ever more important all over Europe. We’ve seen the phase-out of nuclear energy in Germany，which now relies on renewable energies—safer and cleaner. These are topics that the whole world should discuss. If our economies continue growing at this rate， whilst being so inefficient and unsustainable， our resources will be gone sooner rather than later. Thus， it is of utter importance that the heads of state of the 20 biggest economies and trading nations meet once a year to discuss these problems. After all， we are all together in this， and there isn’t one country—or even one whole continent— which could solve these problems all by themselves.

Hamburg has had an official office in Shanghai for the last 30 years. Are the cooperative relations between Shanghai and Hamburg demonstrative of the interconnectedness that China addresses in the motto of the Hangzhou G20 Summit？

I believe that the relations between Hamburg and Shanghai—or the relations between China and Germany， for that matter—already show signs of those values the Hangzhou summit and its motto attempt to embody. The city of Hamburg has had worldwide trade relations for centuries. Nowadays， China’s Belt and Road Initiative is of great interest to us， since Hamburg is one of the terminals of the Silk Road Economic Belt. That’s why I’m absolutely certain that the motto of the G20 Hangzhou Summit—especially the part about more interconnectedness through world trade—is something my city and country can relate to.

China and Germany both have very strong industries. And both countries want to connect their respective “Made in China 2025”and “Industry 4.0” strategies. Do you see China as a competitor or as a partner？

From my point of view， the world and the world economy are certainly big enough for China and Germany. So I don’t think we have to be afraid of becoming die-hard adversaries. It’s only natural that we are partners and competitors at the same time. But when we look at the ever-growing interconnectedness of the world economy， it would be wrong to say that we are only competitors. We are partners as well. Of course， there are markets in which Chinese and German companies act as fierce competitors. But that is not a bad thing， since it challenges them to become better.

Digitalization， for example， is a challenge all companies must face. A good example for doing this successfully is Alibaba， the jewel in the crown of e-commerce here in China. And as we have seen， there have been many heads of state and business leaders who were interested in taking a tour of the Alibaba campus here in Hangzhou. So clearly， everybody and their grandma have understood the challenge we are facing. The German industry is changing very quickly， too.

Digitalization has influenced all areas of business and production. We’ve already heard about the similarities between the German “Industry 4.0” and the Chinese“Made in China 2025” plans. I’m sure that we can learn a lot from each other in that area. Chinese companies are heavily invested in German technological leaders. But at the same time， they need German technologies. I feel very strongly that the German presidency of the G20 will make digitalization one of the main topics of the G20 summit in Hamburg.

As the authorized representative for all foreign affairs of the city of Hamburg，you are directly responsible for major international events like the upcoming Hamburg G20 Summit in 2017. What does the G20 Summit in Hamburg mean for you？

A lot of work！ Of course we do have a lot of staff now concerned with security， accommodation and logistics. And naturally we have to inform the citizens of Hamburg about all of this. That’s why the G20 Summit means a lot of work for me. But it will also be a joy to welcome delegations from all over the world and to show them and the rest of the world our beautiful city. I’m really looking forward to it. ■

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Copyedited by Bryan Michael Galvan

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