The Opening Speech of the Consul-General of Royal Danish Consulate General in Shanghai

Nicolai Prytz 

Dear colleagues from China and Denmark,

I’m very excited to open this third annual conference of the Center of Denmark studies. As I am sure that you are all aware, China and Denmark have enjoyed a long lasting and close relation that is based on mutual trust and recognition. One might say that the Centre of Denmark Studies is a natural extension of these relations. I beg to differ. The establishment of such a centre requires both hard work and determination - from all the partners involved. Therefore, I would like to start by extending my gratitude to the people behind the Centre: the hosts at BISU, the partners at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and the partners at University of Copenhagen as well as the participants from China and Denmark who are here today. Thank you.

For many years, China has looked abroad for inspiration, knowledge and know how that can fuel China's impressive development. Denmark has been fortunate to also enjoy attention from China. Many different Danish organizations in both the public and private sectors have hosted numerous Chinese delegations during the past many years. They have visited Denmark to learn about our welfare institutions, our renewable energy systems and our government functions. To name but a few.

However, such visits are often part of a general interest in the Nordic countries and other European countries. As such, they are not focusing solely on Denmark. Against this background, the center for Denmark studies at Beijing International Studies University is obviously not only special but in fact unique given its sole focus on Denmark. Denmark and Danish researchers have studied China for quite a few years. Next year will be the 60th anniversary of the first professor of China studies at the University of Copenhagen. Of course, I’m thinking of the influential Professor Egerod who helped establish China Studies in Copenhagen and Denmark.

Now, I realize that China, back then and today, offers a lot more to study compared to a small country like Denmark. But the many Chinese delegations that Denmark is receiving testifies to the fact that Denmark nevertheless offers an interesting case for China. This makes us very proud but also humble as it is obviously not an easy task to transform Danish knowledge and know how to suit a Chinese setting. I know this very well as there are many different collaborative projects taking place already. For example: the Danish ombudsman is working with Chinese counterparts to understand each country’s system of government; the innovation center just hosted a seminar at Tsinghua University on lifelong learning, and this year China and Denmark are co-hosting our first tourism year. As some of you may have noticed, these three examples are similar to the topics discussed at the Centre’s first three annual conferences. I take this as a token of your willingness to engage with the topics that are prioritized by our governments. This is remarkable and underlines the Centre’s wish to play an ever increasing role in Sino-Danish relations. I share this wish. In fact, I think a Centre of Denmark Studies should play a special role in the relationships between China and Denmark. And I guess I see eye to eye with the Chinese Government on this issue. That is at least how I understand the Centre’s recent promotion from a university-level Centre to a National-level Centre directly under the Chinese Ministry of Education. Congratulations on the promotion.

 I’m not expecting you to inspire a Denmark studies revolution similar to the one started by Professor Egerod in the field of China Studies in Denmark. However, I am hoping that you will be able to expand you reach in Denmark, work with more university partners and allow your students to immerse themselves even deeper into Danish society as a means for them to understand our way of living. Precisely as Professor Egerod and other China studies scholars have tried and still are trying to understand Chinese society and your way of living.

In conclusion, I would like to stress that I am deeply honored to be here today at this wonderful venue - the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences - but also pleased to see this strong line-up of Danish speakers in the programme. Needless to say, this is very promising for the future of the Centre of Denmark Studies. I would like to end by wishing you all a great conference and by underlining once more that I’m very happy to support the development of the Centre in the coming years.

Thank you.

丹麦研究中心2017年年会致辞

                    ——丹麦驻上海总领事Nicolai Prytz

亲爱的中国和丹麦同事们:

在 此宣布第三届丹麦研究中心年会正式开幕，我感到十分激动。我相信在座的各位都意识到，中国与丹麦在互识互信的基础上缔结了隽永而亲密的友谊。有人可能会 说，丹麦研究中心只是这种亲密关系的自然延续。对于这种观点，我不敢苟同。丹麦研究中心的创建离不开在座所有成员艰辛和不懈的努力。因此，首先，我想对在 背后支持中心发展的所有成员表示衷心的感谢！感谢来自北京第二外国语学院、上海社会科学院和丹麦哥本哈根大学的伙伴们，同样感谢在座的中国和丹麦嘉宾，感 谢你们！

多年以来，中国一直在寻找来自海外的灵感、知识和技能，以推进中国的发展和进步。能够吸引中国的目光，丹麦深感荣幸。过去数年，许多丹麦的官方或民间组织都曾接待过大量的中国代表团。他们访问丹麦，是为了学习我们的福利制度、可再生能源体系和政府职能等等。

然 而，这些访问团对北欧和其他欧洲国家都非常感兴趣，并不仅仅关注丹麦一国。在此背景之下，北京第二外国语学院的丹麦研究中心就显得十分特别和突出了，因为 它是中国唯一一个专注于丹麦研究的机构。中国一直是丹麦学者的研究对象。到明年为止，丹麦汉学家易家乐教授在哥本哈根大学开创的中国研究已达六十年之久， 影响深远。

现 在，我意识到，无论是在当年还是现在，中国有更多值得让人学习和借鉴的地方。然而，近年来，到访丹麦的中国代表团越来越多，这说明中国对丹麦也很感兴趣。 这使我们既感到自豪又有些许压力，因为要将丹麦知识运用到中国的具体实践当中绝非易事。据我所知，两国之间已经开展了众多合作项目。例如，为了增进对彼此 政府体系的理解，丹麦监察专员正在和中国的纪检部门合作；不久前，丹麦创新中心（上海）在清华大学举办了主题为终生学习的研讨会；今年，中国和丹麦将共同 举办首届中丹旅游年。你们或许已经意识到，以上三个例子和丹麦研究中心前三次年会的主题都有关联。我认为，中心乐意参与到双方政府重视的议题当中。这一点 意义非凡，也表明丹麦研究中心期望在未来深化中丹关系的过程中发挥越来越重要的作用，我对此寄予厚望。事实上，我认为丹麦研究中心应当在中丹关系上发挥特 殊作用。我和中国教育部都不约而同地意识到了这一点。丹麦研究中心从校级中心提升为中国教育部国别研究中心，对此我表示衷心祝贺！

我 并不期望你们像易家乐教授那样，在中国发起一场丹麦研究的革命。但是，我期望，你们能够更多地了解丹麦，加强与丹麦大学之间的合作，让你们的学生更为深入 地融入到丹麦社会中去，了解我们的生活方式，正如我们的易家乐教授和其他中国研究的学者们一样，他们都在一如既往地努力理解中国社会和中国生活方式。

今天，非常荣幸能与各位在上海社会科学院共享盛会，很开心能在此见到强大的丹麦与会者阵容。毋庸置疑，丹麦研究中心的未来将大有作为。最后预祝会议圆满成功。在今后的日子里，我非常愿意为丹麦研究中心的发展提供支持和帮助。

谢谢各位！

2017年10月17日