Danish recipient of president's letter gets 'happy surprise'

Simon Lichtenberg, the All China founding chairman of the Danish Chamber of Commerce in China, described a reply letter he received from President Xi Jinping recently as "a very great happy surprise" that encourages him and his chamber to continue fostering mutual understanding and friendship between Europe and China.

"I've been in China for 33 years and both I and the chamber have engaged extensively with the government, but we had never written to a Chinese president," Lichtenberg said.

Last month, he decided to write directly to President Xi on behalf of himself and the chamber to express his deep affection for China and the confidence Danish enterprises have in the country's future development.

In the letter, Lichtenberg described himself as "a Dane who has lived in China for most of my life".

"As this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Denmark, it seems an appropriate time for me to reach out. To be honest, the thought of writing to you has been brewing in my mind for quite some time," he wrote in Chinese.

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1967, Lichtenberg's first exposure to China was right in his own home in Denmark where his mother used to have posters of late Chairman Mao Zedong on the walls. The family even had a copy of the publication containing hundreds of Mao's aphorisms.

Influenced by his family and the desire to broaden his horizons, Lichtenberg went to Fudan University in Shanghai to learn Chinese in 1987. In 1993, he decided to stay in China. Now he is also CEO and founder of Trayton Group, a leading Nordic furniture manufacturer in Shanghai.

"My first impression of Shanghai was that it was very, very busy, and very, very tough," said Lichtenberg. "The average living space in Shanghai back then was just 6 square meters. Homes were crammed. Buses were crammed. It was a tough period."

The Danish entrepreneur shared with Xi how he has witnessed the transformation of Shanghai's Pudong New Area from farmland to a key driver of the leapfrog economic development in the Yangtze River basin.

"I feel honored to be one of the foreign private entrepreneurs rooted here. Under your leadership, the rapidly changing China is injecting stability into the turbulent world today," he wrote.

In his reply, delivered to Lichtenberg on Wednesday, Xi assured that China remains an ideal, secure and promising destination for foreign investors. "Believing in China is believing in a better tomorrow, and investing in China is investing in the future," Xi said in the letter.

Lichtenberg said that despite the complex international situation, China has made significant efforts to maintain a stable and open environment for foreign companies.

He cited Xi's meeting with international business representatives in late March and the Chinese government's continuous rollout of new policies to improve the foreign investment environment.

Lichtenberg said that the chamber encourages more people to come and invest in China and it will help those who are not doing business in China to better understand how the world's second-largest economy can benefit companies, and also Europe and Denmark as well.

The Danish entrepreneur stressed that China is a huge market with a lot of advantages that European companies, in some industries, are depending on. He gave the example of the manufacturing sector. "The Chinese automation, the speed, the talent and a lot of things are much more efficient in China than anywhere else in the world," he said.

Noting his belief that the chamber and China have a very bright and great future, Lichtenberg said it's important for China and Europe to talk and better understand each other.

"While President Xi's letter is a recognition of our work and efforts, it also puts on greater responsibilities on us to keep playing as a bridge between Europe and China," he said.

Luo Bin in Shanghai contributed to this story.

mojingxi@chinadaily.com.cn