Trip to Manchester laboratory provided new opportunities benefiting both sides

習近平主席參觀曼徹斯特大學實驗室之行為中英雙方帶來了合作的新機遇。

A president, a prime minister and a top soccer player: the selfie of President Xi Jinping, then-British prime minister David Cameron and Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero became an instant internet hit in 2015, when Xi ended a state visit to the United Kingdom in Manchester.

2015年，一張習近平主席與曼城球星阿奎羅和英國時任首相卡梅倫的手機自拍照紅遍了互聯(lián)網(wǎng)。當時，習主席即將結(jié)束訪英的最后一站——曼徹斯特。

"That was really an iconic photo from the visit, which really showed the human and personal side of President Xi Jinping as well as being a strong global leader, also him as a human being enjoying a visit and meeting a footballer," said David Houliston, policy head of the Manchester City Council, who was involved in Xi's visit to Manchester as policy and partnership manager for the city.

“這確實是那次訪問的標志性照片，顯示了習近平主席人文和個性的一面，他即是偉大的全球領(lǐng)袖，也有享受與足球運動員會面的親民一面?！弊鳛槁鼜厮固厥凶h會戰(zhàn)略政策和伙伴關(guān)系負責人的大衛(wèi)?霍利斯頓曾參與習近平訪問曼城之行。

Although Xi is known for his keen interest in soccer, that visit to Manchester far transcended the game.

盡管習近平主席以其對足球的濃厚興趣而聞名，但訪問曼徹斯特的意義遠超足球運動本身。

In Manchester, bees, a city emblem, are everywhere to be seen.The hardworking insect evokes the city's history as the cradle of the Industrial Revolution, when it was chimneys, smoke and crowds of workers that were everywhere to be seen.

在曼徹斯特，蜜蜂是這座城市的標志，到處可見。勤奮的昆蟲喚起人們對這座城市的歷史記憶。曼徹斯特是工業(yè)革命的搖籃，曾幾何時，這里處處都是煙囪、煙霧和工人。

In recent decades the city became home to the world's first modern computer, and then graphene, hailed as a wonder material, appeared and Manchester became a center of the Cameron government's "Northern Powerhouse" initiative and of the current government's "Levelling Up" initiatives.

而近幾十年來，世界上第一款現(xiàn)代計算機在這里誕生，被稱為奇跡材料的石墨烯也在這里研發(fā)。曼徹斯特成為卡梅倫政府“北方增長引擎”計劃以及當前政府“提質(zhì)升級”的中心。

Xi's first stop was the National Graphene Institute at Manchester University, the brain of the city's modern scientific and technological revolution.

習近平主席的第一站就是曼徹斯特大學國家石墨烯研究院，該院被認為是曼城現(xiàn)代科學和技術(shù)革命的大腦。

The institute researches graphene, the world's thinnest material.It is used mainly in the fields of energy and electronics and is now the focus of research looking for ways to reduce carbon emissions.

石墨烯研究院的研究對象是世界上最薄的材料，它主要用于能源和電子產(chǎn)品領(lǐng)域，是減少碳排放的重點研究對象。

There, President Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, were given a tour around the laboratories led by Professor Konstantin Novoselov, one of two scientists who won the Nobel Prize in physics in 2010 for their work on graphene at the University of Manchester.Novoselov was also trained in Chinese traditional painting.

習近平主席和夫人彭麗媛在康斯坦丁?諾沃肖洛夫教授的陪同下參觀了實驗室。諾沃肖洛夫和另一位科學家因在石墨烯材料方面的卓越研究而獲得2010年諾貝爾物理學獎。

“Everyone was trying to ask and answer questions, making jokes, and the students were involved," Novoselov said.”

諾沃肖洛夫說：“學生也參與其中，每個人都想提問或回答問題，甚至開開玩笑?！?/p>

"It was quite a dynamic atmosphere, I would say.I gave President Xi one of my paintings.He was very surprised and gave me a set of marvelous paint brushes back as a present."

諾沃肖洛夫教授還接受過中國傳統(tǒng)繪畫的培訓，“我要說的是，現(xiàn)場氣氛很活潑。我贈送給習主席一幅畫作，他感到非常驚訝，并送給我一套很棒的畫筆作為回禮?！?/p>

He recalled the special gift he prepared for Xi, a traditional Chinese ink painting of a lotus pond.In fact, graphene ink was used in that painting.

他記得為習主席準備的特別禮物是一幅傳統(tǒng)荷塘水墨畫。實際上，這幅畫就使用了石墨烯墨水。

Nowadays, university staff members refer to the passage that Xi walked through to see the signature cleanroom laboratory as the "famous corridor" because it later attracted the personnel of so many Chinese scientific institutes.A photo of Xi at the institute hangs on the wall of the corridor.

如今，曼大工作人員將習近平主席走過的通往生產(chǎn)石墨烯的地下超凈實驗室的通道視為“著名的走廊”，因為它后來吸引了許多中國科學研究人員。習主席參觀實驗室的照片就掛在走廊墻上。

"Xi Jinping's visit to the National Graphene Institute really created another wave of enthusiasm and interest in 2D materials in China," Novoselov said."More researchers started to work on it, and more interesting work started to appear.And China today is very strong in this area."

“習主席參觀石墨烯研究院確實在中國產(chǎn)生了新的一波2D材料研究熱。”諾沃肖洛夫說，“越來越多的研究人員開始從事該專業(yè)，更多有意思的工作開始出現(xiàn)。今天的中國在這方面的研究實力非常強大?！?/p>

Professor Luke Georghiou, deputy president and vice-chancellor of the university, also vividly recalled Xi's visit.

曼大副校長盧克?喬治烏教授也生動地回憶了習近平主席的訪問。

"He was knowledgeable.He was interested in what we were doing.I think he has a background himself in technology.So he understood very well what he was seeing."

“他知識淵博，對我們正在做的事情很感興趣。我認為他具有技術(shù)背景。因此，他相當了解自己看到的。”

Following the visit, the university's collaboration with Chinese institutes increased, said Georghiou, adding that global concerns such as health, environmental protection and sustainability have become a new focus of cooperation.

喬治烏教授說，習主席參觀后，曼大與中國研究所的合作增加了，諸如健康、環(huán)境保護和可持續(xù)性發(fā)展等全球關(guān)注領(lǐng)域已成為合作的新焦點。

"It's important that the world leaders don't think the UK is only about London," he said."So it was important for us."

“重要的是，世界級的領(lǐng)導人不認為英國只有倫敦?！?他說?！斑@對我們很重要?！?/p>

On Xi's visit to the UK, Manchester was the only city apart from London that he went to, one reason being the city's post-industrial history, Georghiou said.

喬治烏教授說，在習主席訪問英國時，曼徹斯特是繼倫敦之后唯一的到訪城市，該市的后工業(yè)發(fā)展史可能是原因之一。

"We have managed to grow from older declining industries and found a new economic basis for the way we work with a very dynamic and regional approach. I believe there is some interest in China because you also have many industrial cities."

“我們采用了非常有活力的區(qū)域治理方法，成功地從衰落的老工業(yè)中成長起來，建立了新的經(jīng)濟基礎(chǔ)。我相信人們會因此感興趣，因為中國也有許多老工業(yè)城市?！?/p>

One example is Manchester's sister city relationship since 1986 with Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province.That city similarly transformed itself from an industrial powerhouse into a modern scientific and technological innovation center.

湖北省省會武漢市是曼徹斯特自1986年以來的友好城市。同樣，武漢成功地將自己從傳統(tǒng)工業(yè)大市轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)楝F(xiàn)代科學和技術(shù)創(chuàng)新中心。

The two cities, having worked on trade, investment and education for decades, have found new common ground: hydrogen and sponge cities.

兩座城市在貿(mào)易、投資和教育等領(lǐng)域合作了數(shù)十年，現(xiàn)在又找到了新的共同點：氫能源和海綿城市建設(shè)。

"We've learned from the Wuhan sponge cities program about how to use nature-based solutions to hold back floodwater," said Houliston, who has led Manchester's partnership with Wuhan for about seven years.”In Wuhan, that's about stopping flooding on the Yangtze River.In Manchester, we've done demonstrations learning from China's technology and investment."

負責曼城同武漢交往已經(jīng)7年的霍利斯頓說：“我們從武漢海綿城市項目中學到了如何使用自然的解決方案來阻止洪水?！?/p>

“在曼徹斯特，我們做了向中國學習技術(shù)和投資的示范展示?！?/p>

In late April, the two cities signed a memorandum of understanding on hydrogen energy industry exchanges and collaboration, through which they will work together on the clean energy, with water as the only byproduct, for their net-zero targets.

4月下旬，兩座城市簽署了一份關(guān)于氫能交流和協(xié)作的諒解備忘錄。雙方將在清潔能源上共同努力，以水為唯一的副產(chǎn)品進行研究，實現(xiàn)凈零排放目標。

Xi's visit triggered city partnerships between the two countries, Houliston said.

霍利斯頓說，習主席的訪問推動了兩國城市的伙伴關(guān)系。

"We saw a real succession of visits from governors and vice-governors of different regions of China coming to visit Manchester to see what the president had seen himself."

“在習主席訪問之后，有很多的省市領(lǐng)導訪問了曼徹斯特?！?/p>

In Manchester, many people on the city council, in universities and at companies have business cards that are in English and Chinese.Simple etiquette is one rationale for this, he said, but it also demonstrates the city's ties with China.

曼徹斯特議會、大學和公司的許多人都有中英文雙語名片?；衾诡D說，這是簡單的禮節(jié)，但也證明了這座城市與中國的聯(lián)系。

"We do that for all senior level people in our council, the mayor and the representatives."

“我們市議會高級官員，市長和議員都準備了雙語名片。”

At a welcoming banquet held by the municipal government of Manchester in 2015, Xi said he hoped Manchester would act as a pacesetter of China-UK relations, highlighting the city's links with China.

2015年，習近平主席在曼徹斯特市政府舉行的歡迎宴會上說，希望曼徹斯特積極擔當中英關(guān)系的“領(lǐng)跑者”和中英合作的“領(lǐng)航員”，相信中國同曼徹斯特的交流合作必將迎來更加美好的明天。

Over the past seven years, China-UK relations have had ups and downs, but the relationship between Manchester and Wuhan seems to be undisturbed.

在過去的七年中，中英關(guān)系有起有伏，但曼徹斯特和武漢之間的關(guān)系似乎并沒有受到干擾。

"We've seen historically that there can be challenges around some of the international relationships," Houliston said."And we've always felt that city-to-city dialogues and people-to-people dialogues can kind of shelter from those things a little bit.”

霍利斯頓說：“回顧歷史，我們看到一些國際關(guān)系可能面臨挑戰(zhàn)。但是，我們一直認為，城市與城市的對話和人與人之間的對話可以避開這些干擾?！?/p>

"Even in the most difficult diplomatic era between the UK and China, we continued our work with Wuhan, and we're very proud that the city relations continued."

“即使在中英外交最困難的年代，我們?nèi)耘c武漢開展合作，我們?yōu)橛押贸鞘嘘P(guān)系繼續(xù)而感到自豪?！?/p>

The Airport City Manchester project, one of the UK's largest joint venture commercial development projects worth one billion pounds, was also on Xi's itinerary.China's Beijing Construction Engineering Group International (BCEGI) is a joint venture and construction partner of the project.

曼徹斯特空港城是英國最大的合資商業(yè)開發(fā)項目之一，總價值約十億英鎊，北京建工集團是該項目的合資股東和建筑合作伙伴。

With the Airport City project as a starting point, BCEGI has taken part in five major construction projects in the UK as a developer or contractor in Manchester and beyond, with a gross development value of about￡3 billion.The latest completed phases of the Middlewood Locks project have provided about 6,000 jobs in the local community.

以空港項目為起點，北京建工作為曼徹斯特及其他地區(qū)的開發(fā)商或承包商，參與了英國的五個重大建設(shè)項目，總開發(fā)價值約為30億英鎊。米德爾伍德洛克項目（Middlewood Locks）的建成為當?shù)厣鐓^(qū)提供了約6,000個工作崗位。

"Chinese enterprises have generated a great deal of interest and investment for Manchester and the wider region following President Xi's visit," said Yu Dongwen, the director of BCEGI."It really brings confidence to Chinese companies with ambition on their global reach."

“在習近平主席訪問后，中國企業(yè)對曼徹斯特和更廣泛的地區(qū)產(chǎn)生了極大的興趣和投資?！?北京建工集團英國公司總監(jiān)于東溫說，“這確實給有雄心在全球發(fā)展的中國公司帶來了信心?！?/p>

Charlie Cornish, chief executive officer of Manchester Airport, said its relationship with the Chinese company is "very positive".

曼徹斯特機場首席執(zhí)行官查理?康尼什表示，與中國公司的關(guān)系“非常積極”。

"You're always concerned about the commitment of the other party or parties, the openness of the other party or parties. But we've found them to be open, transparent, (and) friendly. If they said they would deliver a project for a particular time, they did it."

“你總會擔心合作另一方的承諾、另一方的開放度。但是我們發(fā)現(xiàn)對方是開放的、透明的（且）友好的。如果他們說會在某個時間內(nèi)交付一個項目，那就能做到?！?/p>

Rhys Whalley, executive director of the Manchester-China Forum, who calls himself an eternal optimist in terms of Manchester's relationship with China, said he believes in a promising future for bilateral ties."One has to be," he said.

曼徹斯特英中協(xié)會執(zhí)行總監(jiān)申瑞(Rhys Whalley)自稱為曼徹斯特與中國關(guān)系永遠的樂觀主義者，他說他相信雙方關(guān)系前景廣闊。他說：“那是必須的！”

"I'm a proponent of the role the city and regions have to play in driving forward engagement.For too long that had been overlooked, particularly by national and multinational organizations.Cities and regions have a really important role to play, because ultimately that's where people come together."

“我支持城市和地區(qū)在推動互相交往方面發(fā)揮的作用。長期以來，特別是國家和多邊組織忽視了這一點。城市和地區(qū)交往扮演著非常重要的角色，因為這是人們最終聚集在一起的地方?！?/p>

英文來源：中國日報

記者 李雪晴

（編譯：齊磊 編輯：劉世東）