Annette Nessian. Photo provided by interviewee
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Netherlands. Recently, President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulatory messages with King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. He pointed out that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Netherlands, with the joint efforts of both sides, relations between the two countries have continued to develop and cooperation in various fields has achieved fruitful results.
In May 2014, President Xi Jinping held a symposium of foreign experts in Shanghai. Dutch education and culture expert Annette Nessian and other experts spoke at the meeting and put forward opinions and suggestions on China's promotion of innovative nation building. In an exclusive interview with Nandu and N Video, Naisian said that the scene of accompanying President Xi Jinping walking to the venue and having a conversation has left a deep impression on her to this day.
Naissian, who has just entered his 60s, is a world-renowned economist. For many years, he has been committed to actively promoting multi-field cooperation between China and EU countries and enterprises, and has written two books to promote more people of all countries. Learn more about China. In 2018, she served as the chairperson of the Global Board of Directors of BSN Dutch Business School, building a communication bridge between business leaders and management elites in China, Europe and Africa.
Naisian told Nandu reporters that she is confident that the two countries will continue to carry out in-depth cooperation in the future. In her view, China has embarked on a development path that is completely different from the West and has successfully explored a development model with its own characteristics. Today, China is at the forefront of the times and continues to play an active role on the international stage, bringing new opportunities to the world.
Dialogue
“It’s amazing to think from the perspective of human development prospects”
Nandu: Please introduce us to the 2014 foreign experts symposium.
Annette Nessian: Before the symposium started, I accompanied President Xi Jinping on his walk from the photo booth to the venue and had the opportunity to have a brief conversation with him.
Being able to speak in front of President Xi Jinping is a great surprise and honor for me. I have carefully prepared for this speech for a long time. At the symposium, the main point I made was that China has many scientists who are at the forefront of the world and has a certain degree of innovation, but "innovation" and "creation" are different. For example, it is indeed easy to purchase raw materials to produce cars, but it is much more difficult to independently develop and manufacture domestically produced large aircraft. For this reason, I suggest that in addition to paying attention to scientists, we should also pay attention to those who have the ability to manufacture products as complex as airplanes and who can promote the intelligent upgrading of China's manufacturing industry.
President Xi Jinping listened carefully to my speech at the symposium and responded to my opinions and suggestions, which impressed me very much. I can feel his strong personality charm from his words - he can not only start from the matter itself, but also think about problems from the long-term perspective of the development prospects of human society. This is amazing.
Nandu: What inspiration will this symposium have on you?
Annette Nessian: China has embarked on a development path that is completely different from the West, and has successfully explored a development model with its own characteristics. Therefore, I must put aside what I have learned in the past in order to truly understand China. Although to this day, I still cannot fully understand this country, in my eyes, China is already at the forefront of the times. The 21st century is China’s century, and it is crucial to understand the global leaders of this era.
I have always taken it as my mission to promote people from all over the world to have a deeper understanding of China. To this end, I wrote this book to explain to readers what impact China will have on the world as its international status increases. At the end of the book, I concluded that China is different from Western countries in many ways, but it has played a positive role in many fields and is a world leader in many aspects. We need not fear the rise of China.
"China continues to inject positive, stable and constructive force into the world"
Nandu: Have you been to China? What is your impression of China?
Annette Naisian: I have visited China many times. One is to complete my unfinished research on China, and the other is to meet my Chinese friends.
In the past two years, I have communicated with Chinese friends by participating in online meetings. What impressed me deeply was that, based on China’s real reports on the Netherlands, sometimes the Chinese people I met even knew my country better than I did. I have become sworn friends with many Chinese friends. What touches me is that they are always by my side, regardless of their efforts and asking for nothing in return.I used to think that I could only make close friends in my hometown, but in China, I also gained precious friendships.
I believe that in the context of accelerating changes in the world that have not been seen in a century, it is particularly important to make decisions based on facts, and China is constantly injecting positive, stable, and constructive power into the world.
Nandu: In 2015, you were awarded the Chinese government's "Friendship Award" , which is the highest honorary award established to commend foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to China's modernization drive. How did you feel at the moment when you won the award?
Annette Nessian: To be honest, I was very surprised and very happy. I never thought I would win this award. At the award ceremony, I met talents from all walks of life, with different identities and backgrounds, and they shared their own feelings with me. This also gave me the opportunity to understand China more deeply. It can be said that this award brings us together and gives us more opportunities to be heard. In fact, some foreign experts and I have accepted invitations from the Chinese government to provide advice and suggestions on drafting the "Government Work Report." China is willing to listen to our ideas, which is a good thing.
"China has brought many new opportunities to the world"
Nandu: What changes have you witnessed in China in the past ten years?
Annette Naisian: The world is moving forward, and China has brought many new opportunities. For example, in the field of solar energy, which the Dutch are proud of, the Chinese solar company has built a huge solar park in the north of the Netherlands. Some hospitals in the Netherlands are also using data cloud services from and Huawei .
In recent years, the Netherlands has cooperated with China in many fields such as agriculture, commerce, culture, new energy, navigation and logistics. At present, this trend is continuing. In April this year, at the "Dutch-China Facility Agriculture and Horticulture Cooperation Forum" held at the World Horticultural Exposition Park in Almere, the Netherlands, the Netherlands and China discussed promoting exchanges and cooperation between the two countries' horticultural enterprises.
In addition, the cooperation between the two countries in music also sends a positive signal. The famous Chinese pianist Lang Lang has performed in the Netherlands many times. In my opinion, both flowers and music have the function of expressing common human emotions and can help strengthen the friendship between the two peoples. In addition, entrepreneurs from both countries are constantly exploring the possibility of cooperation in areas where both sides are good at, and actively sharing results with each other. I hope that in the next few years we will see the flower of cooperation bear fruit, which will encourage us to continue to seek cooperation in more different fields.
Nandu: What do you think of the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind?
Annette Naisian: This concept is eye-catching. We live on the same planet and share common interests. It is not difficult for us to cooperate. I know that the Netherlands and China are sharing various sustainable development technologies, including building smart cities and green cities. In addition, we can also consider strengthening in-depth cooperation in aspects such as ocean cleanup technology and the search for new decarbonization technologies related to obtaining food and clean drinking water.
From the perspective of building a community with a shared future for mankind, we can still overcome some crises caused by regional tensions by strengthening global cooperation. At the level of VR, DNA or cloning technology , to what extent do humans hope that technological development will ultimately reach? It is also beneficial to all mankind to explore similar issues from the perspective of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
I have always taken it as my mission to promote people from all over the world to have a deeper understanding of China. To this end, I wrote this book to explain to readers what impact China will have on the world as its international status increases. At the end of the book, I concluded that China is different from Western countries in many ways, but it has played a positive role in many fields and is a world leader in many aspects. We need not fear the rise of China. ——Annette Nessian Coordinator: Nandu Reporter Xiang Xueni
Written by: Nandu Reporter He Jiahui Intern Li Bingxin
