German president tours pavilions

SHANGHAI - The question that 11-year-old German girl Sophie He wanted to ask her country's president most was "what were your favorite subjects in school?"

Germany's Federal President Horst Khler (front) visits the German Pavilion at the Expo Garden on Wednesday. Niu Yixin / for China Daily

When Horst Khler replied, "history and sports," Sophie thought she and the president had "a lot in common".

"I think he was just like me when he was young. I immediately felt a connection with the leader of my country, who always appears to be so important and accessible," she said.

President Khler and his wife Eva Luise Khler paid a visit to the Expo 2010 Shanghai on Wednesday to mark the National Pavilion Day of Germany amid a warm welcome chaired by Shanghai's Party chief Yu Zhengsheng.

The interview, conducted by Sophie and her Chinese friend Ding Lan, both students in Shanghai, marked the climax of the German president's official Expo visit, which included a tour of the China and Germany pavilions as well as the German-Chinese House, an architectural embodiment of the three-year event series "Germany and China - Moving Ahead Together".

"I'm very proud to present our national pavilion and the four cities, namely Bremen, Hamburg, Freiburg and Dsseldorf. They all have their own pavilions at the Urban Best Practice Areas (UBPA). I think our pavilion is one of the best to fit the Expo theme of 'Better City, Better Life'," Khler said in his opening speech.

"The Expo 2010 is a chance for the world to present itself to China, and we also need to know what China is as the most populous nation in the world. It's a good opportunity for us to exchange ideas," he said.

The visiting group from Germany, consisting of 500 members, also watched an art performance that brought together the famous "Young Euro Classic" orchestra and German pop band "2raumwohnung". An additional fabulous night show was staged at the Expo Garden to highlight the national pavilion day.

The president is scheduled to visit the UBPA in the Expo Garden on Thursday.

Under the joint patronage of President Hu Jintao and his German counterpart Khler, the event series "Germany and China - Moving Ahead Together" has made stops in five important regional centers in China in the past three years, under the main theme of "sustainable urbanization", before it draws to a close during the Expo in Shanghai.

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Michael Kahn-Ackermann, project leader for the program, said both the Chinese and German sides want to continue this bilateral dialogue.

"It's a project worth continuing, as it had created a kind of branding and it would be a waste just to throw it away. We hope to find a different way but it would follow the same principles, working together on future issues including culture, economy and science," he said, adding that the Germans would warmly welcome Chinese events in Germany.

"We should think more on ways to use our funding and intelligence to promote mutual understanding and cooperation," he said.