Gala Dinner: A Festive Setting
Glittering strobe-lights illuminated the tower of Hamburg’s City Hall while Chinese dragons danced to the booming rhythm of enormous drums. The approximately 350 delegates at the Hamburg Summit welcome dinner were treated to a truly exuberant welcome display. Meanwhile, the evening’s guest of honour, China’s Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan, attended a reception hosted by Hamburg’s First Mayor Ole von Beust. Mr Zeng, who was accompanied by a 30-strong delegation, signed the City of Hamburg’s honorary guest book at the historic City Hall building in the presence of Karl-Joachim Dreyer, President of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, Helmut Schmidt, former German Chancellor, and a large crowd of journalists. "Hamburg-China- Europe-Forum”, he wrote beside his name in calligraphic letters. It has been a long time since Hamburg’s City Hall has enjoyed the privilege of hosting so many highranking guests on a single evening.
The Chinese dragons danced around the guests, guiding them to the "Großer Festsaal” (Celebration Hall) where they were officially welcomed by the First Mayor and Nikolaus W. Schües, Conference Chairman and Former President of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. "We are very happy and proud that, today, Hamburg can claim to be the capital for Chinese business within the European Union”, Mr Schües proclaimed, while Mr. von Beust stressed that the high-ranking guest from the Far East were "more than visitors, more than guests - our friends”. Following the welcome speeches, Capt. Wei Jiafu, President of the China Ocean Shipping Company COSCO, and Helmut Schmidt presented their views on "China’s role in the world”.
Schmidt painted a positive picture of the country’s future and complimented the administration in Beijing on its pragmatic political approach: "The Chinese Communist Party works hard to maintain a balance between confucianism, communism and a market-oriented economic policy.” Wei Jiafu then presented Helmut Schmidt with the first "China-Europe Friendship Award” for his contribution to Sino-European relations. The former German Chancellor has travelled to China many times since his first, historic state visit in 1975. After the speeches, the Chinese and German national anthems were played, followed by a festive and original interpretation in Chinese language by the Monteverdi Choir of "The Yellow River”, a traditional Chinese folk song.
The second ceremonial highlight of the first "Hamburg Summit: China meets Europe” was a gala dinner at the Kempinski Hotel Atlantic on the Alster waterfront. The hotel, one of Hamburg’s oldest and most distinguished, was spectacularly lit up in bright blue in honour of the Summit’s many distinguished guests. The gala dinner culminated in an award ceremony, during which the "China-Europe Sustainability Award” was conferred on Chinese entrepreneur Zhang Yue by Eckhard Rohkamm, Chairman of the German Asia-Pacific Business Association. In 1992, Mr Yue and his brother founded the company Broad Air Conditioning, which today is a world market leader for non-polluting cooling systems. Mr Yue is also a sought-after participant at international business forums that deal with environmental issues - issues that are of particular importance in a vast country which faces serious ecological problems.