来自DB三角铃的Mr. Jean-Jacques Verdun和瑞士驻华大使戴尚贤先生就瑞士和中国逐渐深化的关系进行了对话。 Mr. Jean-Jacques Verdun from DB sat down with Mr. de Dardel, Swiss Ambassador to China, to have a chat about Switzerland’s evolving relationship with China.
在谈及过去十几年瑞士与中国的关系，大使回应到，目前瑞士是中国第八大供应商，这说明中瑞关系可向更深更广发展。 Initially asked about the highlights of Switzerland’s relationship with China over the past decade, the Ambassador responded by explaining how Switzerland’s recent status as 8th largest world supplier to China had allowed the country to develop a deep relationship with its counterpart.
有趣的是，大使认为中瑞之间存在的贸易顺差称“非常独特”。他解释道：“皆因长期以来，我们都在两国友好关系可带来益处的观点上存有共识。” This interestingly has led to a trade surplus between Switzerland and China, which the Ambassador rightly described as “pretty unique”. He explained: ‘That’s because for a long time, we have been looking at each other with a mutual understanding of the benefits a positive relationship could bring.’
得益于这种友好的中瑞关系,中瑞两国签订了自由贸易协定，这是首个中国与全球经济前20强国家签署的双边自贸协定。瑞士驻华大使骄傲地称道，与中国达成协定的速度远快于与其他同伴国的速度，像韩国和澳大利亚，瑞士多花了3年的时间才与他们达成协议。 From this interesting relationship with China the fruits borne included a free trade agreement, the first of its kind with one of the world’s top 20 largest economies. Mr. de Dardel proudly proclaimed that this deal with China was accomplished far quicker than with counterpart countries such as South Korea and Australia, which took up to 3 years longer than Switzerland to achieve the same deal.
瑞士驻华大使补充道，中瑞贸易关系的独特性还体现在以人民币为中心上。这个地位源于一些中国银行进驻瑞士市场，比如中国工商银行和中国建设银行。这也是双方领导人为增进两国关系所做的贡献。此次进展源于中国主席习近平选择在瑞士进行史上最长时间的单次国事访问，在瑞士停留了4天才返回中国。 Adding to Switzerland’s prominent trade relationship with China is its unique status as “an RMB hub” as the Ambassador describes it. This position was gained through the entry of Chinese banks such as ICBC and the China Construction Bank into the Swiss market, an effort which was boosted through improved relations between the leaders of both countries. This improvement occurred with Chinese president Xi Jinping bestowing upon Switzerland the honour of China’s longest single state visit, remaining within the country for 4 days before returning to China.
驻华大使谈到，作为前任瑞士驻法大使，他发现中国与瑞士的贸易关系比中国与世界第五大经济体法国的关系更为密切。尽管巴黎现为世界排名前三的旅游胜地，瑞士也是最受中国游客欢迎的第四大欧洲国家。据统计，平均每年有130万中国游客到瑞士旅游。 Mr. Ambassador also remarked that when transferring from his previous role as Ambassador to France, the world’s 5th largest economy, he noticed that China-Swiss combined trade was larger than that between France and China.Despite Paris’s current status as one of the top 3 tourist destinations in the world, Switzerland maintains an also significant position of 4th most popular in Europe amongst Chinese tourists – with 1.3 million recorded Chinese tourist visits to the country annually.
在被问及他所著的关于中瑞关系的书籍以及两国文化关系，驻华大使分享道，瑞士文化在国内的影响与中国文化在中国国内的影响与法国等其他欧洲国家不同。“文化并非完全掌控在文化部、政府、机构的手里，而是在本土机构、私营企业、独立创造者、及艺术家他们的手里。” When later asked about his book covering Sino-Swiss relations and the cultural aspect of the state relationship discussed, Mr Ambassador noted that cultural influences within Switzerland differ to those in China or even other European countries such as France. ‘Culture is not mainly in the hands of the ministry of culture, or government, or institutions. It is in the hands of local institutions and the private sector, the private creators, the artists themselves…’.
他还提到，这些年来，中国的国际化视野使其“开放自由的思想”得到进一步的深化，并把中国带到世界文化舞台的前沿。他相信，瑞士在宣扬中国文化上扮演着重要的角色。他提及到前瑞士驻华大使UliSigg是第一个意识到中国现当代艺术的潜力的人；UliSigg也是目前世界上拥有最多中国现当代艺术品的收藏家。 He then speculated that China’s global embracement over the years has allowed the country to develop ‘its openness and freedom of thought’, bringing it to the forefront of the world culture stage, where he believes Switzerland plays a major role in the recognition of Chinese culture. He mentioned that UliSigg, the former Swiss Ambassador to China, was the first to realise the potential of –contemporary Chinese art, who now also holds the largest collection of such works in the world.
大使谈到，得益于其艺术和文化的大力发展，尽管也许还未被完全认同，如今瑞士也是一个文化强国。同时，中国也在逐渐成为世界上最大的艺术市场，这将加深中瑞友好互助的贸易关系。 Switzerland, he remarked, is a cultural power in its own right, due to its major involvement with art and culture, yet is not recognised as such. Meanwhile, China has become the largest art market in the world and, as Mr. de Dardel explains, this gives China and Switzerland similar strengths that allow them to enjoy a mutually beneficial trade relationship.
最后，在被问及未来瑞士打算如何深化与中国关系时，驻华大使指出，由于中瑞两国的工业潜力都十分巨大，科学技术是两国主要的共同利益。他解释道，瑞士可以在中国环境问题上提供帮助，因为瑞士有着领先的环保科技。驻华大使继续补充，帮助中国解决环境问题不只是获得经济价值，还可以通过参与中国环保项目从而改善全球的环境状况。 Finally asked about how Switzerland plans to expand its relationship with China in future, the Ambassador pointed out that the fields of science and technology in particular were the most major mutual interests shared by both countries due to their huge industrial potential. China’s environmental crisis, he explained, was an area in which Switzerland could be of assistance due to its advanced clean and environmentally friendly technology sector. Helping China overcome its environmental epidemic, he observed, would bring benefits far beyond those of economic importance. Rather than simply gaining work with the one of the world’s largest economies, he believes his country can play a major part in improving the global environment through beneficial work with one of the world’s largest polluters.
驻华大使馆最后提到旅游业也是影响中瑞关系的另一个重要因素，并称今年是两国的一个“旅游元年”。他发现，旅游业发展的好处远远不仅是经济上的收益，也是让中瑞两国变得更亲近的桥梁。 The Ambassador later raised tourism as another major area of influence of Swiss-Sino relations, stating that this year has been declared a “year of tourism” between the two countries. He observed that the benefits of tourism also extend beyond its financial value, with the industry acting as a bridge between countries, especially in the case of Switzerland and China, where he believes tourists will be instrumental in bringing both countries even closer.