Editor's Note:

The 2023 Understanding China Conference (Guangzhou) will be held in Guangzhou from December 1 to 3. The Conference will invite Chinese and foreign representatives to have in-depth exchanges under the theme of "China's new endeavors and unprecedented global changes: Expanding the convergence of interests and building a community with a shared future."

Former heads of government from many countries have confirmed their participation in the conference. As the conference is about to be held, a new column, "Understanding China, Face to Face with Consuls" is launched by Yangcheng Evening News. We talk with the heads of the consulates general of Austria, Belgium, Thailand, Pakistan and Vanuatu in Guangzhou and listen to how these diplomats living and working in Guangzhou see China and Guangdong.

Ms Birgit Murr, the head of the Consulate General of the Republic of Austria in Guangzhou, is an old friend of China, who has lived and worked in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou for more than 30 years, and has a deep affection for China and Guangdong.

Former Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel will attend the Understanding China Conference in Guangzhou. As a foreign friend who has experienced China and Guangdong's social, economic and cultural development, how does Ms Murr see the relationship between China and Austria? How does she think of Guangdong’s people and culture?

 Yangcheng Evening News conducted an interview with Ms Murrr recently about these topics. She said, "Once get used to China, if you go you will definitely miss something."

Yangcheng Evening News: In 2022 Austria witnessed the commencement of the first China-Europe Railway Express from Vienna to Xi'an and after a decade of development the CRE has become a new type of international transportation that is convenient, stable, green and economic. How do you evaluate the impact of CRE on social economic development of Austria?

Murr: Actually Austria is a landlocked country so we don't have a direct connection to any harbour at the sea. So for us, railway is a very important means of transport and in Austria we really very much try to get the rid of the trucks if possible because as you say, railway is much more environmental friendly and we see Austria have not only catering for Austria, but we are also well connected to the Central and Eastern European countries. So the connection into Asia, into finally China, is of course very important to us. Also, we must say, of course the volume of freight transport can not match with the sea transport, but cost wise, it's cheaper than the aircraft and it's faster than the sea. So it's a good connection. Air transport has a lot of CO2 pollution and the same is with the sea transport. Because especially the older generation vessels are also not environmentally friendly. So this is a good option and we are really trying to make use of it, and we hope this can be expanded.

Yangcheng Evening News: Austria is widely known in China for its capital Vienna, the "City of Music", and is admired for its rich cultural heritage. Similarly, Guangdong's Lingnan culture holds a unique place in Chinese culture. Can you highlight recent cultural exchanges between Guangdong and Austria?

Murr: You were mentioning before Austria as a country of music and Vienna as the capital of music and this is also the focus of our exchanges. We had some exchanges for orchestras, we had the famous Vienna Boys Choir coming to Guangzhou and doing several performances, and we also have an Austrian company called Rieger. They are producing organs which is a very traditional business and they do some organ concerts. Apart from that, we also had some art exhibitions.

I think Chinese people love music very much and music is our trademark in China for Austria. I think the Chinese music is very much reflecting, and there's very lot of harmony. Recently, I was visiting an introduction on traditional Chinese medicine. I have been introduced to this already several times. But this was the first time that they were introducing the connection between different Chinese musical instruments and the effects it might have on different organs in the body. So TCM and music went very well and I thought this idea is very interesting and very fascinating.

Yangcheng Evening News:In which cultural areas do you anticipate further cooperation in the future?

Murr: I think we should continue and deepen the cooperation in music, and maybe sometimes do some experiment. Maybe to combine the Austrian musicians with the Chinese musicians that matches maybe very well. I'm no composer, but it might be interesting to try to use the Chinese instruments together with the western instruments to do something performance together. That might be a very good idea.

Yangcheng Evening News: If recommending Guangdong as a travel destination to Austrians, what aspects would you emphasize?

Murr: I think if you are a tourist, you always should look for something you don't know from at home. It's like if you go abroad, you don't want to eat your home country's cuisine. You want to experience something new.

So what is very different from Austria, I think, definitely the modern buildings in Canton. I'm sure Canton Tower and the financial district would be something to recommend, especially at night. But there are also other interesting places. I was in Zhuhai and I visited the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and it was amazing.  This building, such a huge bridge just crossing the sea. This is something we cannot imagine back home and I would recommend this as well.

This is for the modern part and I think you also should learn a little bit about the traditional Chinese culture and population. I was also on a trip organized by the Guangdong Foreign Affairs office, to Shantou, to Chaozhou and to Meizhou. This was very interesting for me to see the traditional Guangdong people's culture and also to understand how those people had been going overseas had been traders in the early days, had also brought back cultural influence from overseas from abroad and then was reflected in their architecture. So I think on the one hand get to know modern things modern Chinese culture buildings and on the other hand learn about the tradition.

Yangcheng Evening News:Since the signing of the Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement between China and Austria in 1984, there has been extensive collaboration in various fields, such as medicine, remote sensing, forestry, new materials, and environmental protection. From January to April of this year, China and Austria entered into 38 new technology transfer contracts, totaling USD 130 million, representing a remarkable year-on-year growth of 194.7%. Can you provide insights into the current status of cooperation between Guangdong and Austria in the field of science and technology?

Murr: Actually our technology co-operation is very much company driven. We of course also have university to university co-operations, for example I was mentioning the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. There was a cooperation on this between the Vienna University of Technology and the bridge project team, Tongji University and the local universities in Guangdong. I think this is a good way to co-operate but I think also the challenging topic in the future is environmental protection and we are also very strong on that so I think there's also a chance for co-operation. There's also some co-operation in the field of education, management education and hospitality education, so this is another field where Austria is strong and where we always seek partnerships.

Yangcheng Evening News: In your opinion, which specific areas hold greater prospects for future collaboration between Guangdong and Austria?

Murr: In Guangdong, there will always be a industrial upgrade. Over the last years, we have seen the setup of very modern companies, really high-tech and new industries, like new energy vehicles or batteries and so on. But we also still have a lot of traditional industries in Guangdong and for them, it's also a challenge to become more environmental friendly and also to become more energy-efficient. Austria does have technologies to improve this situation for companies, so I think that might be a good chance for us to co-operate in environmental protection.

Yangcheng Evening News: The "Understanding China" Conference (Guangzhou) is scheduled for December 1st, 2023, with the attendance of Wolfgang Schüssel, former Chancellor of Austria. Living and working in Guangzhou, how would you describe China as a country?

Murr: China is not a country, it's like a continent. I used to be working in Beijing more than 30 years ago, and then I used to work in Shanghai from 2001 to the beginning of 2011, and then again in Beijing for another three years and then in Chengdu and then here. So I cannot compare the places because it's so different. My impression is if you're in China, you need to be flexible. Because China is developing very fast and so there's always changes. If you are a person who likes changes and who likes challenges, then it's the right place for you to work.

I can say frankly, many people who left China for whatever reasons, they contact me and say, “oh I'm missing China that much”. So if you once get used to China,  if you go you will definitely miss something.

There's always speed and there's a lot of openness and the people here are all very friendly and we made very good contacts and friends here. I think this is important, because as soon as you have friends in the country, you have a very good feeling about the country.

Yangcheng Evening News: What are your thoughts on China's concept of "Chinese-style modernization"?

Murr: I think China is really very much high speed, developing very fast, very much technology-driven. In other parts of the world, it's maybe a little bit different. We all have to find our own way, but still it needs to be easy to combine. I think the interesting thing about the world is that it's different and it's not just one-size-fits-all.

In Austria, people like hiking, like spending their spare time or leisure time in nature, focus on experiences. Chinese people are much more fast-moving. But on the other hand, we see now new trends. For example, I hear from my colleagues from the tourism board, Chinese people now stop being this kind of "seven days ten cities" tourists. They want to enjoy they want to also experience the country. So I think China's concept of modernization matches well for China, but I think China can also get some ideas from somewhere else and we can get ideas from China.

Yangcheng Evening News: Additionally, how do you perceive China's role in international affairs?

Murr: China for sure has a bigger place on the international stage, no question about this. China is also very actively doing some activities, like supporting the United Nations and their peace operations and so on. Compared to the first time when I was in China in 1986, and then working in China in 1989, China definitely found a new role in this world stage. I think for any country it's important to play by the rules, and not only the government but also the companies. This is an important aspect of international co-operation, any country who plays by the rules is well received and very well accepted and welcomed.

It's one world. We all have just one planet. We have challenges, environment decarbonization, and the use of resources. Nowadays, governments need to take a lot of international responsibilities, and I think this is a very challenging target. There's no country who can easily do this, China also of course faces these challenges.

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