Documentation Brochure - Hamburg Summit

Welcome Address by President Frank HorchFrank Horch, President, Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, opens the conferenceReal optimists are enviable people –they enter a restaurant and orderoysters hoping to find a pearl insidethat helps to pay the bill. I think itwould be a good idea to adopt thisrefreshing kind of optimism for thethird “Hamburg Summit: China meetsEurope” held at the Hamburg Chamberof Commerce. The programme was fullof pearls – with each new topic weopened, beautiful pearls were to bediscovered!When the former President of ourChamber, Dr. Karl-Joachim Dreyer,officially opened the first HamburgSummit in 2004, he said: “What weneed in business as well as politics aregood marriages that are long lastingand dependable. People say that themost successful marriages are those inwhich the couple never stops talking.”In November 2004 we could not haveimagined how important a constantdialogue between China and Europewould be just four years later. Especiallysince 2007 the couple has had to facedifficult conditions.But separation would never help toreturn to a state of harmony, so we aremore than happy that we arranged thethird “Hamburg Summit: China meetsEurope” against the odds. Our constantdialogue with the economic and politicalleaders in China has been rewarded:The Hamburg Summit was the reasonfor the first visit of a high-rankingChinese politician in Europe followingthe political disagreement in spring2008. And this will also play a part inreinstating harmony, which goesbeyond all of the expectations we hadwhen planning the Hamburg Summit in2004 that carried the motto “The powerof partnership”.The China we see today is no longerthe workbench of the world, it hasemerged as a global player of hightechnology. The EU needs to accept andtreat the People’s Republic as an equalpartner. China, on the other hand, needsto continue implementing WTO rulesand regulations. There is still someground to cover in this respect.To generate fair dialogue, theHamburg Chamber of Commerce initiated“The Hamburg Summit: Chinameets Europe”. I am very confident thatwe will strengthen the dialogue withthe aim of building new bridges andreviving existing links. The stronger abridge is built, the more it can carry. Letus all contribute in building a bridgebetween China and Europe – a bridgethat can carry common challenges suchas climate change and environmentalproblems!