Belgian ambassador to China gives exclusive interview to Xinhuanet
比利时驻华大使马怀宇接受新华网专访

The following is the transcript of Xinhuanet’s exclusive interview with Michel Malherbe, Belgian ambassador to China:

以下是新华网对比利时驻华大使马怀宇专访全文。

Xinhuanet: Late March Chinese President Xi Jinping left to Europe, starting his four-state-visit. He will pay a state visit to Belgium and will also visit the EU headquarters in Brussels. This is Xi’s first visit to Belgium as Chinese president and also the first visit to the EU headquarters by a Chinese president. How do you view this visit?

新华网：中国国家主席习近平于3月下旬开启对欧洲四国的访问之旅，不久将对比利时进行国事访问，他还将访问位于布鲁塞尔的欧盟总部。这是习近平就任国家主席以来首次访问比利时，也是中欧关系史上中国国家主席首次访问欧盟总部。您如何看待习主席的这次访问？

Michel Malherbe: We established diplomatic relationship back in 1971, and Belgium has been among the first countries in the 80s to establish joint ventures in China. One of the best-known is Xi’an Yangsen in Xi’an and also Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell. Since then, trade and investment, and university relationships, and people-to-people contacts have been developing steadily, and it is really a great pleasure for us to see that the President of China coming to Belgium soon, so we really see it as a crown put on all that work since 1971.

答：比中两国于1971年建立外交关系，上世纪80年代很多中外合资企业在中国创办，比利时便是在中国开展合资业务的国家之一，其中最著名的合资企业要数西安杨森，还有上海的贝尔阿尔卡特公司。

从那时起，两国之间的贸易、投资，教育等领域的合作及人文交流一直稳步发展。如今，中国国家主席即将访问比利时，我们真的非常高兴，我们将此访视作是比中关系自1971年以来最重要的时刻。

Xinhuanet: This year is the 43rd anniversary of the China-Belgium diplomatic relation. In retrospect of the bilateral ties, exchanges at all levels have been substantial and frequent. Economy and trade, cultural, and scientific ties are among them. What do you think of the bilateral exchanges and cooperation between China and Belgium? What do you think are the new directions and new fields for Sino-Belgium cooperation?

新华网：今年将迎来中国和比利时建交43周年，回顾两国关系发展，各级别交往频繁，经贸、文化、科技等各领域交流合作取得丰硕成果，您如何评价中比两国之间的交流合作？您认为两国未来还有哪些合作的新领域、新方向？

Michel Malherbe: I was posted here back in 1994, and that’s exactly 20 years ago. It was my first assignment. Back then, we Europeans were selling goods and technology to China, now, things have changed. We Europeans are trying to attract Chinese investments to Europe. And I can see in my daily life as an ambassador, virtually every institution, every company, every university wants to establish cooperation with China. So, relations have been developing across the whole range, and we are happy to see nowadays that when you look at the Five-Year Plan of China, it really resembles what we do best in Belgium. In terms of trade, green technologies are very much in demand in China, and medical technologies and ways to fight pollution, and high-tech agriculture, these are all things we can do, and China really needs, so we are really good match on the trade side. On the investment side, we really want to attract more companies to Europe. Belgium is the heart of Europe, which is the way we look at it ourselves and hope is the way the Chinese investors look at it. Brussels is the gate to the European continent. So that is the way we look forward to the Belgian-Chinese relationship.

答：1994年我曾在中国工作，距今正好20年整，那是我的第一个外交任务。那时，我们欧洲人向中国输出货物和科技；而现在，一切都变了，欧洲人正努力吸引中国投资者前往欧洲。作为大使，在日常工作和生活中，我每天都能看到几乎每个机构、每个公司、每所大学均想要同中国建立合作。

比中合作层次多、范围广；而且我们非常乐见，中国的五年发展计划中有许多跟我们比利时所擅长的内容非常相似。比方说，中国现在非常需要绿色科技、医疗技术、污染治理的科技以及高科技农业等，这些都是我们能做的。这样看来，我们和中国在贸易这方面非常“合拍”。在投资领域，我们非常希望越来越多的中国公司到欧洲去。比利时是欧洲的“心脏”，我们也是这样看待自己的，而且我们也希望中国的投资者们这样看待比利时——布鲁塞尔是通往欧洲的“大门”。基于这种“心脏”地位，我们也期待比中关系更上一层楼。

Xinhuanet: Chinese ambassador to Belgium, Mr. Liao Liqiang, said that China-Belgium relationships have maintained a stable and healthy development in three ways. They are high-level reciprocal visits, bilateral economic ties and investment, and people-to-people communications. They have deepened mutual understanding and trust, and bilateral benefits. What do you think of this comment?

新华网：中国驻比利时大使廖力强去年曾说，中比关系近年来“三座桥梁”上保持了稳定健康的发展。这“三座桥梁”即高层互访、双边经贸和投资以及人文交流，加深了双方的互信、互利和理解。对此您怎么看？

Michel Malherbe: Liao Liqiang has become a good friend of me, and as you mentioned, we are colleagues. He represents interests of China in Belgium, and I do the contrary in China. So we are actually also a good-matching professional team. I think that everything starts with people-to-people contacts. In the real life, what we want to see is more students coming from China to Belgium and from Belgium to China. We want people to learn each of these languages. We want companies to trade, and we believe that rising from the people, agreements can see the daylight at government level. That is where indeed as you have mentioned, and as ambassador Liao said, visits are very frequent, and they are actually expression of the growth of people-to-people contacts. We are working on the daily bases to enhance the quality and the quantity of the contacts between the populations, especially the younger people, because we see the recent potential, especially on the investment side between the two countries. But we still lack a little bit of the people to carry them and people who understand each other’s mentality, each other’s language and who know each other’s culture. I am sure that Ambassador Liao and myself, we are working on the same direction, and to enhance the people-to-people contacts, and give them expression at the government to government level.

答：廖力强是我的好朋友，而且就像你提到的那样，我们也是同事。他在比利时维护中国的国家利益，而我在中国维护比利时的国家利益，所以我们在专业领域方面也很合得来。

我认为一切事情都是从人文交流开始的。在现实生活中，我们想看到更多的中国学生去比利时，同时更多的比利时学生来中国。我们希望两国人民可以学习彼此的语言，两国的公司有更多的贸易往来。我们相信会有更多的民间人士加入到两国经济文化交流中，从而使两国政府层面的合作更加顺畅。期待比中关系更上一层楼。

廖力强大使说过，两国互访愈发频繁。你刚刚也提到过，这就是两国人文交流增多的表现。我们每天都在为增强比中之间人文交流的深度和广度作出努力，尤其是在年轻人的层面。近来两国在投资方面的发展趋势也让我们看到了这项工作的必要性。但是，我们仍然较缺乏能胜任这项工作的人士，他们需要能理解彼此的想法、懂得对方的语言和文化。我确信廖力强大使和我本人都在为同一个方向努力，即加强人文交流，并且使其在双方政府层面的合作上得以体现。

Xinhuanet: Belgium is China’s sixth biggest trading partner in EU, while China is the second biggest trading partner of Belgium outside EU. Even in the shadow of European debt crisis, China-Belgium economic ties have sustained a great momentum of development. Right now, with the influences of European debt crisis wearing off, which areas, in your opinion, could China and Belgium enhance their economic and trading cooperation?

新华网：中比经贸关系密切，比利时是中国在欧盟的第六大贸易伙伴，而中国也是比利时在欧盟外的第二大贸易伙伴。在欧债危机的背景下，中比经济仍保持了良好的发展势头。如今，欧债危机的阴霾逐渐消散，您认为未来中比两国应该从哪些方面更进一步加强经贸合作？

Michel Malherbe: First of all, we are very thankful to China for its confidence during the Euro crisis. There has been a lot of support, also financially. We are happy to see now that we are emerging out of that crisis, and it reminds everyone that Europe remains market of 500 million people, and the best partner of China. So the support of China in the mist of crisis was well-spent time and well-spent energy. We believe that the reforms that China has started up in November on the occasion of the third plenary are very much matching what we do in Europe. We see that China is growing a little bit slower, but that gives a lot of attention to the creation of social security network, and also to the fight against pollution in favor of the environment. These are options which resemble very much what we do in Europe, that is not fighting for high growth figures, that is seeing to making the population benefit from the growth, in terms of social protection, and in terms of protection of the environment.

答：首先，我们非常感谢在欧债危机中中国给予我们的信心。中国给了我们许多支持，尤其是在金融方面。我们很高兴看到现在我们正逐步从危机中复苏，而且不管怎样，欧洲始终是拥有5亿人口的市场和中国最好的伙伴。所以，中国在欧债危机阴霾中给予我们的支持，我们都铭记感念于心。

我们相信去年11月中国十八届三中全会开始的改革与我们在欧洲所经历的非常相似。我们都看到中国经济的增长步调放缓了，现在需要投入大量精力完善社会保障体系及治理环境污染。这些与我们在欧洲所做的工作一样，并不只是为了GDP高增长数据，是为了在社会保障体系完善和环境污染治理的工作进程中使人民受益。

Xinhuanet: Last month, Belgium and its people welcomed a pair of Chinese pandas, Xinghui and Haohao, with great enthusiasm. Undoubtedly Belgium loves these two pandas. Could you give us more information on their life in Belgium? And how would you comment on the future of people-to-people communications between China and Belgium?

新华网：近日，中国的国宝大熊猫“星徽”和“好好”抵达布鲁塞尔，获得了极高的待遇。它们憨态可掬的模样在比利时民众中掀起了一场“熊猫热”，您能为我们介绍一下这方面的情况吗？您如何看到中比两国人文交流的现状和未来？

Michel Malherbe: I went to Chengdu to see the pandas off, and I could see the ceremonies and the departure ceremonies. Our prime minister himself and other ministers were waiting for them at the airport in Belgium and they were taken under police escort to the zoo where they are living now in probably the biggest Chinese garden in Europe. The garden was built in part by Chinese workers. So, this is important because I am not the expert in pandas, but still I think they are the symbols of China, the symbol of soft power, I would say, of China.

答：我去成都并参加了熊猫的欢送仪式。我国首相和其他内阁大臣也在比利时机场亲自欢迎了熊猫的到来。熊猫在比利时警方的护送下入住迄今为止欧洲最大的“中国园”。 当然，这座“中国园”的建造也离不开中国工人的帮助。来自中国的协助非常重要，像我，就不是很了解熊猫，所以更需要中国专业的帮助。同时，熊猫也是中国软实力的体现。

Xinhuanet: TinTin and the Smurfs are world-renowned cartoon figures, and are greatly loved by Chinese people, especially children. Mr. Ambassador, would you please brief us on the efforts to promote culture and tradition made by the Belgian government in recent years?

新华网：诞生于比利时的漫画《丁丁历险记》和动画片《蓝精灵》广为流传，深受中国小朋友的喜欢。大使先生，您能否为我们介绍一下近些年来比利时在推广国家文化方面所作的努力？

Michel Malherbe: In Belgium, we are not that much promoting culture from a top-down way, so we are not pushing cultural groups to come to China, what we see is that they come by themselves, and last year, we had a very famous, just to name two examples, a very famous dancer, you probably know Wang Yabin and her friends, she is very famous dancer. She set up a show with one of our most famous choreographers career, and the show was shown at CPA with great success. We also had a contemporary theater company called Nit company, (VERY INNOVATIVE) quite shocking maybe for some, they also came to China and enjoyed a great success. So, although China is far and for cultural groups it is expensive to come to China, and perform in different cities, we see that it happens, and then you also have different types of art. We look at design as being a type of art, and Belgium design is very much present in China. In a way the Smurfs and TinTin are also a kind of design that we are proud of exporting to China, and we enjoy the fact that this gives to Belgium a positive image a little bit the way the pandas give positive image to China.

答：在比利时，我们并没有刻意由上而下地推广文化，也并非强制我们的文化队伍走进中国，而是顺应他们自身的发展。让我给你举两个例子，去年，中国青年舞蹈家王亚彬,与比利时编舞家西迪•拉比•彻克奥维合作作品《生长》在中国国家大剧院成功上演。我国现代戏剧团尼德剧团也成功登陆中国进行了精彩的表演。

所以，虽然中国路途遥远，且对于艺术表演来讲，也有一定花费，但我们仍然能见到这样的跨国演出促进了比利时文化的交流和发展。就如你们提到的比利时漫画《丁丁历险记》和动画片《蓝精灵》在中国的大受欢迎，正是比利时文化展现它积极一面的良好时机，就像中国的熊猫一样。

Xinhuanet: Mr. Ambassador, you took the office last year. In our earlier interview, you mentioned your close ties with China，Had you ever been to China before that? What is the most impressive thing about China you have learned after getting here?

新华网：大使先生，您曾在接受采访中提到与中国有很深的渊源，在此之前，您来过中国吗？对中国有什么样的印象？来中国感受最深的是什么？

Michel Malherbe: I arrived in China almost twenty years ago, and I worked a number of years here, then I moved to Singapore, and I also worked four years as council general of Belgium in Hong Kong, so that gives me ten years in a broadly speaking Asian or Chinese environment. I could feel the very fast change, and it was totally different twenty years ago. There are something that we are trying to capitalize on everyday in our daily life. That provides a lot of opportunities to make people benefit on the daily basis of the cooperation between China and Europe.

答：我大概20年前来到中国，在这里从事若干年的工作后去了新加坡，然后又在中国香港担任了为时4年的比利时驻港领事。借着工作之便，也让我有了长达10年的时间接触亚洲，或者说是进一步了解中国的机会，我可以感觉得到中国的快速发展，较之20年前的中国，这种变化是惊人的。中国的巨变也正是我们尝试去借鉴的。这些变化都提供给我们大量的机会，通过中欧合作为广大人民群众谋取福利。

Xinhuanet: It is said that Belgium is like an unfolded scroll, with all kinds of picturesque scenes, such as ancient castles, metropolis and natural landscapes. Sir, would you please introduce the beautiful Belgium to our netizens? For those who want to study or tour in Belgium, what do you have for them in recommendation?

新华网：有人说，比利时是一幅展开的画卷，古堡、现代都市、自然风光等应有尽有。大使先生，能否为新华网网友介绍一下比利时？对于想去比利时旅游、留学的网友，您有什么好的建议和推荐吗？

Michel Malherbe: Belgium lies at the heart of Europe, it itself is small in Europe, a miniature version of Europe. It’s a bit of patch work. The country has 11 million inhabitants, and is only about 350 kilometers long. But in that short distance and short surface, you have people of very different backgrounds. You have people speaking German, of Germanic origin in the north. You have people speaking French, of more Latin origin in the south. You have small German-speaking minority, and in the middle of that, you have the capital city of Europe where all kinds of languages have been spoken and where I would say English is the everyday language. If you want to visit Europe, you are very inspired to start from Belgium, because you can find everything in a nutshell. From there, you can travel very easily, just one hour to London, to Paris, to Rotterdam, to German cities. So we look at ourselves as the heart of Europe, not only politically, but also physically and geographically.

答：比利时地处欧洲中心，可以这样说，比利时就是一个小欧洲，一个微型的欧洲，像块“补丁”。比利时总人口为1100万，国土面积仅有30528平方公里。但就是在这块很小的土地上，生活着各个不同文化背景的人民。北部是日耳曼民族讲德语的比利时人，南部大多是拉丁裔的讲法语的比利时人，还有一小部分讲德语的少数族裔，然后中间就是欧洲的首都城市——布鲁塞尔，这里几乎能听到所有语言，英语是多数人的日常用语。

如果你想要去欧洲旅行，非常建议你从比利时出发，一小时就可以到达伦敦、巴黎、鹿特丹，还有德国的各个城市。所以比利时在政治上不仅是欧洲的心脏，而在地理上也是欧洲的心脏地带。