Over the 30 years of reform and opening up, there has been a special team with members coming from overseas and active across China: they have made prominent contributions to China’s food security and agricultural economic development; they have facilitated brilliant achievements in China’s independent industrial innovation and rapid modern service industry development; they have played an irreplaceable role in China’s industrial structure adjustment, economic development mode transformation, alignment of its education, technology, culture and healthcare with international standards, enhancement of its overall strength and improvement of people’s living standards; they have built a bridge of friendship for the exchanges between Chinese people and people all over the world.
At the opening ceremony of the CIEP Forum of the Conference on International Exchange of Professionals 2008 held in Shenzhen on November 29, the 15 “Most Influential Overseas Experts in China over the 30 Years of Reform and Opening Up” were revealed upon selection by the media and society.
List of the selected experts: in alphabetical order by Chinese surname
1. Henk Behedam - a guardian of health who defeated SARS together with the Chinese people
He is a Dutch citizen born in 1958, a recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award and a former representative of the World Health Organization in China.
Reason for selection: During the period when China encountered the SARS crisis and became affected, he played his special role as WHO representative in China by helping China to seek foreign understanding, sympathy, support and assistance and to conduct epidemic monitoring, vaccine research, patient treatment, etc. and made great contributions to the ultimate victory over SARS.
2. Ieoh Ming Pei - the most outstanding Chinese-born architect of the 20th century
He is a Chinese-American architect born in 1917, a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, a recipient of the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award of China and a Suzhou honorary citizen.
Reason for selection: After the reform and opening up, he presented his first classic work to China as a foreign architect - Fragrant Hill Hotel, which caused a strong shock in China’s architectural community. Over the decades, he has designed buildings for Hong Kong, Beijing and Suzhou that impress the world; he has provided valuable suggestions for Beijing’s old area renovation and new area development and Suzhou’s old town conservation and culture building; he has made special contributions to the shift of Chinese architectural design from traditional philosophies to modern ones.
3. Werner Gerich - a “foreigner factory director” who stood at the forefront of the times
This late German expert (1919-2003) was a recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award, a Wuhan honorary citizen and a recipient of the Grand Cross special class ex officio of the German President.
Reason for selection: He was appointed as the director of Wuhan Diesel Engine Factory from 1984 to 1986. He took the lead in introducing foreign management philosophies with quality and market as the core, managed the factory strictly and changed the factory’s look of backward management and poor quality, which caused a strong impact on the management systems of China’s state-owned enterprises and was called by overseas public opinion as “startling news and successful example” in the process of China’s opening up and reform. It became a milestone in China’s introduction of foreign intelligence in the new period.
4. Ian Fok Chun-wan - a new-generation business leader and philanthropic entrepreneur in Hong Kong
He is a Hong Kong citizen born in 1949, a recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award, a Guangzhou honorary citizen, the Chairman of the Fok Ying Tong Education Foundation and the Chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong.
Reason for selection: He has thrown himself into charity and the training of talents in the Chinese mainland for 28 years; he initiated the exchange between the All-China Youth Federation and the Hong Kong business community; he splits his time between Hong Kong and the mainland and has facilitated the training of more than 20,000 talents in the mainland and made important contributions to the development of the mainland, especially minority and western regions.
5. Tsung-Dao Lee - a scientist committed to the science and technology cause of his motherland
He is a Chinese-American physicist born in 1926, a winner of the Nobel Prize and a recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award.
Reason for selection: He advised Mao Zedong in the 1970s that China should pay attention to the education of excellent young students, which facilitated the opening of youth classes at universities; he organized the implementation of the China-U.S. Physics Examination and Application (CUSPEA) program, which opened the door for Chinese graduate students to enter U.S. top universities for further study; he advocated and promoted the establishment of the Postdoctoral Programme system in China; he helped China to choose an advanced BEPC program suited to its specific conditions and facilitated China-U.S. physics cooperation; he established four research centers in China, including the China Center of Advanced Science and Technology. He has done a great deal of fruitful work in developing science and technology and education and promoting basic research and talent cultivation in his motherland.
6. Edwin Charles Maher - the first “foreigner anchor” of CCTV
He is a New Zealander born in 1941 and a recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award. Reason for selection: After quitting his job, putting aside the broadcast training school run by himself and giving up the generous material benefits and living conditions in Australia, he came to Beijing to impart the skills in spreading the voice of contemporary China to his Chinese colleagues without reservation and has become the overseas expert working in China today with the largest audience worldwide.
7. Robert A. Mundell - the “father of the euro” who is concerned about China’s economic development
He is a Canadian born in 1932, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, the founder of the Beijing Forum and a holder of the Beijing “green card” (permanent residence). Reason for selection: During the SARS epidemic in 2003, when Beijing was listed as an infected area by the World Health Organization, he took risks to move his company headquarters from New York to Beijing to show his confidence in China; when there was constant pressure from the U.S., etc. requesting RMB appreciation, he stood firmly by China and supported keeping the exchange rate of the RMB stable. In order to cultivate more financial talents, he serves as an honorary professor of more than 40 universities in China and has delivered more than 200 speeches in different fields in China.
8. Morihiko Hiramatsu - the initiator of the One Village, One Product movement
He is a Japanese born in 1924, a recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award and a former governor of Oita Prefecture, Japan. Reason for selection: He has come to various places in China many times to pass on the advanced experience of One Village, One Product (OVOP); he accepts Chinese trainees to receive training and study in Japan and sends experts to China to provide technical guidance; he actively promotes the exchange of high-level reciprocal visits between China and Japan and has facilitated the establishment of sister city relationships between Oita Prefecture and cities in China, the establishment of companies by Oita Prefecture enterprises in China and direct flights between Oita Prefecture and Shanghai. The OVOP movement initiated by him is now in full swing in China and has become an important project for farmers in various places of China to increase income.
9. John Thornton - a visiting professor at Tsinghua University with an annual salary of USD 1
He is an American born in 1954, a recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award and former President and Chief Operating Officer of Goldman Sachs Group. Reason for selection: Five years ago, after resigning as President of Goldman Sachs and giving up his annual salary of USD 11.2 million, he became a visiting professor at Tsinghua University with an annual salary of USD 1, in order to discover and cultivate future industry leaders in China under the new world economic system. He is the first senior Western investment banker to serve as a visiting professor at a university in the People’s Republic of China after its founding. The “Global Leadership” course led by him has become one of the most popular and influential courses at Tsinghua University.
10. Susan Sabriya Tenberken - the “lightbringer” for blind children in Tibet
She is a German blind expert born in 1970 and a recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award and the German Golden Deer Award and Presidential Medal. Reason for selection: Susan, who is also blind, came to Tibet in 2000 and collaborated with the Tibet Disabled Person’s Federation to establish a rehabilitation and vocational training center for the blind. She uses the world’s only Tibetan Braille designed by herself to conduct training and education and over eight years, she has successively trained hundreds of blind children in daily living skills and provided them with basic education in Tibetan, Chinese and English Braille. She has made great contributions to the education and rehabilitation of blind people in Tibet.
11. Moris Topaz - the “Bethune” on the earthquake relief site
He is an Israeli born in 1950, a recipient of the Shanxi Friendship Award and the Secretary-General of the International Committee for Quality Assurance, Medical Technologies, and Devices in Plastic Surgery. Reason for selection: After learning of the earthquake disaster in Sichuan, he resolutely put off all surgery procedures scheduled in the week in Israel and came from Israel to hard-hit Deyang at his own expense with surgical equipment and devices. In simple tents in the disaster area, during the continuous aftershocks, he conducted rescue using the “negative pressure wound therapy” technology he invented, to save the wounded from unnecessary amputations and major operations.
12. Hain Verbruggen
He is a Dutch citizen born in 1941, a recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award and the Chairman of the Coordination Commission for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Reason for selection: He served as the Chairman of the Evaluation Commission of the International Olympic Committee in 2001, responsible for inspecting and evaluating the cities bidding for the 2008 Olympic Games, and he firmly believed that Beijing’s hosting of the Olympic Games would leave a unique legacy for China and world sports and Beijing would host an outstanding Olympic Games. As the Chairman of the Coordination Commission for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad since 2002, he helped Beijing in various aspects during the preparations for the Games. He has played a special role in Beijing’s successful bid for and hosting of the Games.
13. Yang Chen-Ning - the first well-known Chinese-born scholar to return for a visit after the founding of the People’s Republic of China
He is a Chinese-American physicist born in 1922, a winner of the Nobel Prize and a recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award. Reason for selection: Before the Sino-U.S. rapprochement, he took risks to return to China for a visit in 1971. Driven by him, a group of Chinese-American scholars returned to China to contribute ideas and exert efforts for the modernization of their motherland, and they made special contributions to promoting the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the U.S. and talent exchanges and scientific and technological cooperation between the two countries. He successively initiated the establishment of three foundations in Hong Kong and the U.S. and successfully raised more than RMB 100 million overseas for Sun Yat-sen University and Tsinghua University; he promoted the establishment of the Center for Advanced Study, Tsinghua University and introduced top scholars to Tsinghua such as Andrew Chi-Chih Yao, a winner of the Turing Award known as the “Nobel Prize of Computing”.
14. Toyama Seiei - the Japanese “Foolish Old Man Who Controls Sand”
This late Japanese expert in sand control (1907-2004) was a recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award, an honorary citizen of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and a recipient of the Caring Citizen of the Humanities Award from the United Nations. Reason for selection: He began desert control practice in Ngebe, Inner Mongolia in 1980. For 14 years, he worked there eight to nine months a year and nearly 10 hours a day, selflessly dedicating the rest of his life to the cause of sand control in China. During tour lectures across Japan, he called on Japanese citizens to save money for one lunch every week to support the greening of the Ngebe Desert. Inspired by him, more than 10,000 Japanese, including his children, successively came to Ngebe to join the desert greening campaign. A total of 300,000 mu (20,000 hectares) of moving dunes in Ngebe have been covered in green after his unremitting efforts.
15. Hara Shoich
This late Japanese rice expert (1917-2002) was a recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award, the Chinese Agricultural Medal and the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award of China and a Heilongjiang honorary citizen. Reason for selection: Beginning in 1982, he persevered for 20 years in imparting and promoting the technique of dry nursery and sparse planting of rice; he visited China 63 times, toured 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions to provide guidance, and worked in China for cumulatively more than 1,800 days. This cultivation technique that saves seeds, fertilizer, water and labor increases production by more than 10% per mu (about 0.067 hectares) on average than conventional planting and has been praised by agricultural experts as a revolution in the history of rice cultivation. At the height of its influence, more than 200 million mu of rice benefited from it every year across China.