英國駐重慶總領事史云森：重慶是一座極具獨特性格的城市

賀煜

開欄語：近年來，重慶正以昂揚的姿態加快建設內陸開放高地，聚力打造中西部國際交往中心，其發展成就令人矚目，一次次聚焦來自國際社會的目光。各國駐華大使紛紛來渝參訪，12個國家在渝設立領事機構，近300家世界500強企業落戶重慶。在渝工作、學習的外國友人見證重慶發展，參與重慶開放。他們眼中的重慶是什么樣的？期待與重慶碰撞出怎樣的火花？重慶市人民政府外事辦公室主辦“外國使領館官員話重慶”“外國友人講重慶故事”活動，重慶與世界雜志記者采訪記錄，在媒體上展示外國使領館官員和外國友人眼中的“多面重慶”。

6月24日，在渝中區中山四路曾家巖書院，英國駐重慶總領事史云森與記者分享了他眼中的重慶，展望英國與重慶的合作前景，并預告了英國參與今年智博會的情況及領館即將開展的活動。

“重慶是一座極具獨特性格的城市”

2020年11月16日，61歲的史云森出任英國駐重慶總領事。而10年前，他曾就職于在重慶設立的中英合資企業。

史云森說，10年之后的重慶城市發展更快、規模更大，不僅在基礎設施領域發展迅速，還變得非常自信、開放，國際化程度越來越高，對未來發展充滿雄心。

在史云森看來，重慶中心城區有長江和嘉陵江穿流而過，城市周圍群山環抱，賦予了這座城市獨特的性格，讓重慶顯得與眾不同。

在從事外交工作之前，史云森曾是一名橋梁工程師。當了解到重慶已建成14000多座橋梁和隧道，他很驚訝?！拔矣∠笞钌羁痰氖怯逯邪雿u上分別橫跨長江和嘉陵江的東水門大橋、千廝門大橋?！笔吩粕f，兩座橋梁改善了重慶的城市交通，其橋梁本身也是非常棒的設計。

“英國與成渝地區具有廣闊合作空間”

談及成渝地區雙城經濟圈建設的國家戰略將為川渝兩地與英國的交往帶來哪些機遇？史云森表示，重慶和成都兩座城市都在雄心勃勃地推進這一戰略，共同打造中國西部的經濟引擎，這也給兩地與英國在很多領域的合作帶來機遇。

史云森說，英國在基礎設施建設、運營和維護方面有很多經驗可以分享。在醫療健康、教育等服務行業，特別是建筑設計領域都將有很大的合作空間。他表示，科研領域合作也值得探討。西部（重慶）科學城是成渝地區雙城經濟圈建設的重要一環。今年初，他考察了西部（重慶）科學城，其發展規劃令他震驚和振奮，“這是一個非常好的規劃，涵蓋氣候變化、醫療合作、新能源汽車等眾多領域，這些也是全球面臨的共同挑戰。”史云森表示，要應對這些挑戰，就要開展更多的國際合作。

“英國將在今年智博會設國家館”

“因受新冠肺炎疫情影響，從去年以來，我館在西南地區舉辦了多場線上交流活動。隨著中國對疫情的良好控制，今年正逐步轉至線下。”史云森表示，今年下半年尤其值得關注的是將在線下同步舉行的智博會，為中外企業提供面對面的交流機會，很多英國企業都非常期盼參與其中探索新的合作。他還透露，今年將繼續在智博會搭設英國國家館，集中展現英國在智能科技領域的企業。還將舉辦英國專場論壇及發布會，分享英國最頂尖、最前沿的科技成果和產品，展示中英企業合作的范例。

史云森介紹，今年英國將主辦第二十六屆聯合國氣候大會，中國也將在云南昆明舉行聯合國《生物多樣性公約》第十五次締約方大會。英國駐重慶總領事館將舉辦一系列圍繞“氣候變化”和“生物多樣性”兩個全球議題的活動。在文化領域，英國駐華大使館文化教育處將于9月啟動“連接·重啟”文化節，以線上線下相結合的形式展開。11月，將在成都熊貓國際美食薈中舉辦“英國日”活動。

On June 24， the Zengjiayan courtyard， at Zhongshan 4th Road， Yuzhong District， saw the sharing of Mr. Ellison with journalists on Chongqing in his eyes， the future of cooperation between the UK and Chongqing， the UK's participation in this year's Smart China Expo， and the Consulate General's upcoming activities.

"Chongqing is a city with unique DNA"

At the age of 61， Mr. Ellison became British Consul General in Chongqing on November 16， 2020. Ten years ago， he worked in a Sino-British joint venture in Chongqing.

Mr. Ellison held that the city of Chongqing， ten years later， is growing faster and bigger， not only in terms of infrastructure， also becoming quite confident， open， increasingly international， and ambitious about its future development.

To Mr. Ellison， the downtown area of Chongqing sees the juncture of Yangtze River and Jialing River， and the city is surrounded by mountains， giving the city a unique personality， and making it stand out.

Prior to his diplomatic career， Mr. Ellison worked as a bridge engineer. He was surprised to learn that 14，000 or more bridges and tunnels had been built in Chongqing. “The Dongshuimen Bridge and the Qiansimen Bridge， spanning the Yangtze and Jialing rivers respectively on the Yuzhong Pennisula impressed me most.” Mr. Ellison believed the two bridges have improved Chongqing's urban traffic and the design of bridges themselves is awe-inspiring.

"A vast scope for cooperation between the UK and the Chengdu-Chongqing region in areas

The national strategy of constructing the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle is promoting synergistic development between Sichuan and Chongqing， what opportunities will this bring for interactions between the two cities and the UK？ Both cities are ambitiously pursuing this strategy to build an economic engine for Western China， and this presents opportunities for cooperation with the UK in many areas， stated Mr. Ellison.

Mr. Ellison emphasized that the UK's experience in infrastructure construction， operation， and maintenance could all be shared. There will be ample potential for cooperation in the service sectors such as healthcare， education， and particularly in the field of architectural design. Scientific and technological cooperation is also worth exploring， he noted. The Western （Chongqing） Science City is an integral part of the development of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle. The development plan of the city， during his visit earlier this year， astonished him with excitement. “It is a very good plan covering many areas such as climate change， medical cooperation， and new energy vehicles， a common challenge confronting the world.” Mr. Ellison considered that only more international cooperation is needed can these challenges be addressed.

"The UK will put up a national pavilion at the upcoming Smart China Expo"

“The British Consulate General has held many online events for exchange in Chinas southwest since last year， due to the shockwaves of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the coronavirus kept at bay in China， it is gradually turned to offline this year.” Of particular interest later this year， said Mr. Ellison， will be the online and offline launch of Smart China Expo， a boon to face-to-face networking for Chinese and foreign businesses， and many UK companies are very much looking forward to attending it and exploring new collaborations. He also disclosed that the UK will continue to set up the national pavilion at the Expo this year， putting UK companies in the smart technology sector under the spotlight. Forums and launch events dedicated to UKs cutting-edge technologies and products as well as examples of cooperation between UK and Chinese enterprises will be organized too.

This year the UK will host the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference （COP26） and China will convene the Fifteenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity （COP 15） in Kunming， Yunnan Province. The British Consulate General in Chongqing will be organizing a series of activities around the global issues of climate change and biodiversity. In the cultural front， the British Council in China will launch the "Link-Restart" cultural festival in September， a blend of online and offline activities. In November， a “UK Day” will be staged during the Chengdu Panda International Food & Culture Carnival.