On
January 31, 2021 it will be 50 years since diplomatic rela-tions were
established between the Republic of Malta and the People’s Republic of
China. This past half century has seen rapid and dramatic world
changes, whether one speaks demographically, politically or
economically.
However,
one thing that has never wavered has been the strong bond that first
brought Malta and China together so many years ago. If anything, this
bond has been strengthened and significantly enhanced. Despite the
disparities in size and population, there exists a balanced partnership
forged out of mutual respect and admiration.
⬆ An aerial night view of Valletta Beach, Malta
As
we approached this half century milestone we had high expectations of
significantly expanding upon the strong eco-nomic, political and
cultural interaction between our two na-tions. However, the high hopes
which we had nourished were to be dramatically affected by the
unforeseen, unexpected, and unforgiving pandemic which saw the world’s
economy come to a painful, grinding, slowdown.
As for most countries
in the world, the years 2020 and 2021 have been extremely difficult ones
for China and for Malta. However, building upon the bond which our two
nations have developed over the past half century, Malta was able to
face the challenge with a strong will and to come out victorious.
While
Malta is an important hub in the south of Europe for the distribution
and sale of pharmaceutical products, it had no centres for the
manufacture of masks and personal protective clothing. In the past
these products were imported from other nearby European countries.
However, when the pandemic erupted, these normal supplies quickly dried
up, as these nations needed all they could manufacture, and much more,
for their own domestic use.
All
eyes turned to China, and before long we were heavily involved with
sourcing from within China the stock which would be required to protect
our citizens, and especially our frontline workers, from the risk of
exposure to COVID-19. By the end of 2020 more than 1,000 tonnes of
equipment had been sourced from all parts of China and transferred to
Malta by way of eight Boeing 777 planes and container cargo by ship.
Given the size of our island nation, this was a huge achievement.
Additionally,
Malta will always be grateful for the outstanding donations of masks,
other protective clothing, and respirators, which it received. These
were made by the Government of the People’s Republic of China, the China
People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC),
along with its branches in Shanghai, as well as Guangdong and Shandong
Provinces, and the Alumni Association of the China-Europe International
Business School. Ambassadors Abroad, and some private companies, such
as Hongyi Culture and MaltaEDU, were among the other donors.
Malta
had learnt much from China’s early example, and when COVID-19 first hit
our shores the Government quickly shut Malta down, avoiding the worst
of the pandemic’s onslaught. Malta also quickly accessed vaccines, once
they had been clinically cleared for use, and acquired sufficient
quantities to vaccinate the bulk of our population. It soon became one
of the countries in the world with the highest percentage of its
population vaccinated.
Now
Malta is again one of the world’s safest countries, with many tourists
once more flocking to our shores. Much of Malta’s economy is rapidly
recovering, and investment opportunities are again on the rise. This
includes Chinese investors who have not been slow to appreciate the high
return, low risk nature of investment in Malta.
This
comes as no surprise. In the half century since estab-lishing
diplomatic relations with China, Malta has grown in stature and
broadened its horizons. Initially, being part of the EU, and also part
of the British Commonwealth, Malta’s trade and commercial relations had
been mainly focused on both its heritage within the British
Commonwealth, as well as on its position within Europe.
However,
today Maltese business is looking at new areas well beyond Europe from
which to obtain benefit. The focus is distinctly on Africa, the Middle
East, Asia, especially China, India and Japan, and more recently, Latin
America.
Malta
has always significantly punched well above its size in both the
political and financial arenas. Today it is the only country in Europe
which meets the four criteria of Member of the European Union, Member of
the Commonwealth of Nations, Member of the Schengen Group of Nations,
and Member of the Eurozone.
Alongside
the ancient and beautiful Maltese language, Malta also uses English as
an official language. With the Euro as its currency, and English as its
language of commerce and international transactions, the Maltese
business sector can be accessed, and can reach out to, virtually
anywhere in the world.
It
is for these reasons, and many others, that people from so many parts
of the world, including China, have established their business base in
Malta. From Malta’s safe, secure, low risk environment, these
businesses can profitably trade with Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
With
one of the lowest unemployment rates of Europe, and a huge need for
persons with a wide range of entrepreneurial and trade skills, people
from all over the world have settled in Malta in record numbers.
There
is now a growing Chinese interest in Malta because the Chinese business
community is discovering that Malta is a great location to base
business within the EU. The Chinese are not only looking at Malta as
their market. They are looking at Malta as the base from which to
access the EU market, arguably, the largest market in the world. And
they’re thinking “Wow! Malta! It’s safe. It’s nice. It’s convenient.
It’s economical.”
Chinese
businesspersons are discovering that Malta is just such a fantastic
place to base one’s business. They are attracted by Malta’s booming
economy, Malta’s friendly environment, and the fact that Malta is one of
the safest places in the world.
On
July 4, 2018 Malta stunned the financial world when it became the first
country to pass Acts of Parliament estab-lishing a regulatory framework
for the operation of Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and Distributed Ledger
Technology (DLT). These laws gave Malta a leading edge in the
Blockchain revolution.
Today,
Malta is one of the most authoritative nations in the world on
Blockchain. Furthermore, Malta is rapidly establishing a regulatory
framework for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and positioning itself at the
forefront of both AI and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Malta
has one of the largest ship registers in the world. In 2019 it enjoyed
the enviable status of having the largest flag register in the EU in
terms of gross tonnage, and the sixth largest worldwide. Large cargo
ships flying the Maltese flag, registered in Malta’s capital Valletta,
are regularly sighted in the busy ports on the Chinese coastline.
Malta
is strategically located in the middle of the Mediterra-nean Sea midway
between Sicily and Tunisia. Situated between Gibraltar and the Suez
Canal, this is one of the world’s busiest, and most important shipping
lanes. Malta also has the advantage of having deep harbour operations
which are among the most vibrant in Europe. There is no ship that has
yet been built that cannot anchor in Malta.
In 1998 Malta established
the Malta Freeport Terminals and significantly increased its
trans-shipment operations. Its long and very busy experience in
operating strategic Freeport Terminals has not gone unnoticed by China.
In recent times senior officials from the Hainan Free Trade Port, which
is quickly being established in the south of China, visited Malta’s
Freeport Terminals to gather information and to learn from Malta’s
experience. Senior officials from China’s Ningbo Port also had been
negotiating with the Malta Freeport Terminals for the establishment of a
European Base in Malta.
Malta’s
strategic location has also advantaged it in developing an aviation
cluster encompassing maintenance, aircraft registration, leasing,
financing, flight and crew training, as well as attracting a range of
companies in the Air Charter business for both passengers and cargo,
including some with offices located in China.
Capitalizing on Maltese
skills and craftsmanship, the German airline company Lufthansa
established its largest maintenance bay outside of Germany in Malta.
Here it services not only its own aircraft, but also a range of aircraft
from other airline companies, including several from Africa. Air China
has also now formed a partnership with Lufthansa and is sending senior
officials to Lufthansa’s Malta base.
The
film industry is another area with outstanding potential for
profitable, low risk investment by Chinese companies. Long known as
“The Mini Hollywood of the Mediterranean” through the production of such
blockbusters as Troy, starring Brad Pitt, Gladiator, starring Russell
Crowe, and Steven Spielberg’s Munich, Malta is now also being sought
after for the filming of movies and documentaries by film companies from
China.
Before
the pandemic hit, big plans were underway for the filming in Malta of
the European segments of several major Chinese movies. Many of the
contracts for the filming of these movies are still valid. Once the
pandemic has been put firmly behind us, and as China comes to learn more
about Malta, filming activities will resume with great energy and
enthusiasm.
Up
to the end of 2019, the record for inbound tourism to Malta, including
from China, had been broken for thirteen consecutive years. Before the
pandemic, Malta was the only country in the world that annually
attracted more tourists than five times its entire population, with fast
increasing numbers coming from Asian nations such as China, India, the
Philippines, Japan and South Korea.
China
has played, and continues to play, a significant role in much of
Malta’s development. At the time of its construction, the 300,000
tonnes drydock, known in Malta as the Red China Dock, and built by more
than 800 Chinese engineers and technicians, represented the world’s most
advanced ship-building technology.
China also constructed a large
breakwater in the south of Malta, creating another major harbour for the
shipping of cargo. In recent years, Malta has experienced an
unprecedented boom in Chinese investment in land and in property
construction.
As
part of the Belt and Road Initiative, Shanghai Electric Power Co., Ltd.
invested €320 million in the production of Malta’s electricity. In the
past, Malta’s power terminals had used diesel generators. These
outdated technologies were high on pollution, and low on efficiency.
Following
Shanghai Electric Power's complete transformation of Malta’s power
production from diesel to gas, Malta’s local energy structure was
successfully optimized, and the cost of electricity was reduced by 25%
for Maltese users.
At
the same time, this restructure greatly enhanced the relia-bility,
safety and stability of the Maltese power grid. As a result, today Malta
not only enjoys cleaner and more efficient electricity, but the cost of
electricity ranks among the cheapest in Europe, making Malta an even
more attractive location for investment.
Because
of such a solid foundation for cooperation, in No-vember 2018 Malta
became one of the first European countries to sign the Belt and Road
MOU, guaranteeing continued close interaction with China at the
Government level, as well as at the Economic and Cultural levels.
Much
has happened as a result of the friendly relationship between Malta and
China, and despite the setback by the pandemic in 2020, the future of
this relationship continues to be both optimistic and exciting. As the
Ambassador of the Republic of Malta to the People’s Republic of China, I
am heartened that both nations are so committed to working harder to
make this happen even more effectively in the years ahead. Malta and
China will always work constructively and energetically to enhance our
friendship, and our strong political, economic and cultural links.
Editor | Xu Chengzhi
Design | Demi
导读
在马耳他和中国建交达半个世纪这个里程碑之际，我们对继续扩大和加强两国在经济、政治和文化领域的互动充满更高的期望
2021年1月31日是马耳他共和国和中华人民共和国建立外交关系50周年纪念日。在过去半个世纪里，世界在人口、政治和经济方面都发生着飞速且巨大的变化。
不过，马耳他和中国在建交时所形成的牢固纽带关系多年来不仅没有受到任何影响，而且还大大加强并得以提升。两个在国土面积和人口方面存在巨大差距的国家在互相尊重和赞赏的基础上建立了均衡发展的伙伴关系。
⬆ 2021年8月25日,“中国西藏·扎西德勒”西藏唐卡艺术展20日以线下和线上相结合的方式在马耳他正式拉开帷幕(新华社记者 陈文仙摄)
在我们建交达半个世纪这个里程碑之际，我们对继续扩大和加强两国在经济、政治和文化领域的互动充满更高的期望。可是一场突如其来而且来势凶猛的流行病毒令世界经济陷入了惨痛的减速慢行的泥潭，这也让我们的厚望遭受到严重影响。
与世界上大多数国家一样，中国和马耳他在2020和2021年都遇到了极其艰难的形势。不过，依靠与中国长达半个世纪的牢固关系，马耳他能够用坚强的意志应对挑战并取得胜利。
马耳他虽然是南欧医疗产品分配和销售的重要枢纽，可是它没有自己的口罩和个人防护服生产基地。当流行病毒袭来时，平时正常的供应很快就枯竭了，因为周边国家的产量已经不能满足他们自用了。
我们的目光转向了中国。很快我们就从中国采购了大量的所需物资，用来保护我们的公民，特别是那些一线工作人员，使他们避免了感染新冠病毒的风险。到2020年底，从中国各地采购的设备超过了1000吨，八架波音777飞机以及集装箱货运船将它们运输到马耳他。对我们这样规模的岛国来说，这的确是一个很了不起的成就。
此外，马耳他还收到了中国捐赠的大量口罩、防护服和呼吸器，对此马耳他无比感激并将永远铭记。这些捐赠来自中国政府、中国人民对外友好协会（CPAFFC）和其在上海、广东和山东的分会以及中欧国际商学院校友会。中国驻外大使和一些私营企业也参与了捐赠，比如鸿一（北京）文化发展有限公司和中马教育（MaltaEDU）。
马耳他从中国早期抗击疫情的经验中学到了很多。当新冠病毒刚在马耳他出现时，政府就立即对全国采取封锁措施，避免了病毒在国内流行的严重后果。当疫苗在临床上获准使用后，马耳他迅速获得了大量的疫苗并为大部分人口进行了接种。因此马耳他很快就成为世界上接种率最高的国家之一。
如今，马耳他再次成为世界上最安全的国家之一，众多游客又纷纷涌向我们的海岸。马耳他的大部分经济正在快速复苏，投资机会也在不断增加。这其中就包括来自中国的投资者，他们对在马耳他投资的高回报和低风险一直非常赞赏。
这些现象一点也不令人惊讶。与中国建交半个世纪以来，马耳他的国际地位不断提高，视野不断开阔。最初，作为欧盟和英联邦的成员国，马耳他的贸易和商业往来主要集中在英联邦和欧洲范围内。
但是，现在马耳他的企业正在寻找欧洲以外的新领域，以求发展。他们将重点放在非洲、中东、亚洲，特别是中国、印度和日本，近来又展开了与拉丁美洲的合作。
马耳他在政治和金融领域的影响力一直远超其领土规模。目前，它是欧洲唯一一个同时属于欧盟、英联邦、申根国和欧元区的国家。
除了拥有古老美丽的马耳他语外，马耳他使用英语作为官方语言。以欧元作为结算货币，以英语作为国际商业贸易语言，马耳他商界几乎可以与世界任何地方进行往来。
正是因为看到这些以及许多其他优势，包括中国在内的世界各地的人们都在马耳他建立了他们的商业基地。由于马耳他的营商环境安全、可靠、风险低，这些企业在这里可以与欧洲、非洲和中东地区进行贸易，利润颇丰。
马耳他是欧洲失业率最低的国家之一，对具有企业家精神和贸易技能的人才需求巨大，因此世界各地前往马耳他定居经营的人数创下了历史纪录。
中国商界人士发现，马耳他是在欧盟发展业务的绝佳地点，因此对马耳他的兴趣越来越大。中国人不仅将马耳他视为自己的市场，他们还将其看作是进入欧盟市场的基地，而欧盟市场可以说是世界上最大的市场。他们赞叹说，“马耳他很好！很安全、很方便、很理想，而且运营成本低。”
中国的商人们一致认为，马耳他是一个非常适合做生意的地方。马耳他蓬勃发展的经济、友好的环境以及它是世界上最安全的一个地方这一事实深深吸引了他们。
2018年7月4日，马耳他的议会通过法案，使其成为第一个为区块链、加密货币和分布式账本技术（DLT）的运营建立监管框架的国家，此举震惊了世界金融界。这些法律也让马耳他在区块链革命中处于领先地位。
现在，马耳他是世界上区块链领域最具权威的国家之一。此外，马耳他还在加速建立人工智能（AI）的监管框架，并将自己定位为在人工智能（AI）和物联网（IoT）方面的前沿国家。
马耳他是世界上最大的船舶注册国之一。2019年，马耳他注册船舶的总吨位列居欧盟国家第一，世界第六，这是非常骄人的成绩。在马耳他首都瓦莱塔注册的悬挂马耳他国旗的大型货船经常出现在中国海岸线繁忙的港口。
马耳他位于地中海中部，是西西里岛和突尼斯之间的战略要地。它同时还处在直布罗陀和苏伊士运河之间，而后者是世界上最繁忙、最重要的航道之一。马耳他还有一个优势，即拥有欧洲最具活力的深水港业务。迄今为止，还没有哪一艘船不能在马耳他停泊。
1998年，马耳他建立了马耳他自由港码头，并大幅增加了转运业务。所以马耳他在运营自由港码头方面具有长期且丰富的经验，对此中国早已熟知。最近，中国正在快速建立的海南自由贸易港的高级官员访问了马耳他自由港码头，旨在收集信息并学习马耳他的经验。中国宁波港的高级官员也一直在与马耳他自由港码头就在马耳他建立欧洲基地的事宜进行谈判。
马耳他的战略位置还使其在发展航空集群产业具有优势，包括维护、飞机注册、租赁、融资、飞行和机组培训；同时吸引到许多承接客运和货运包机业务的公司，其中也包括一些中国公司。
德国汉莎航空公司也利用马耳他在这方面的技能和工艺，在马耳他建立了德国以外最大的维修基地。该基地不仅为其自己的飞机提供服务，还为其他航空公司的各类飞机提供服务，包括一些来自非洲的飞机。中国国航一直与汉莎航空有合作伙伴关系，因此现在它也向汉莎航空的马耳他基地派遣高级官员。
马耳他的电影业风险小，盈利潜力大，因此是中国公司可以投资的另一个突出领域。马耳他凭借布拉德·皮特主演的《特洛伊》、罗素·克罗主演的《角斗士》和史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格导演的《慕尼黑》等大片而长期被称为“地中海的迷你好莱坞”。如今，马耳他也因适宜拍摄电影和纪录片而受到中国电影公司的追捧。
在疫情爆发前，中国一些大片中的欧洲部分就计划在马耳他拍摄。现在这些电影合同仍然有效。待疫情彻底结束后，同时随着中国对马耳他的进一步了解，相信拍摄业务会以更大的热情和干劲重新开始。
截至2019年底，马耳他的入境旅游已连续13年被打破记录，这当然也包括中国游客。在疫情爆发前，马耳他是世界上唯一一个每年吸引游客人数超过其总人口五倍的国家，这其中来自中国、印度、菲律宾、日本和韩国等亚洲国家的游客数量在迅速增加。
中国已经并将继续在马耳他的发展中发挥重要作用。由800多名中国工程师和技术人员在马耳他建造的30万吨干船坞被称为“红色中国码头”，它代表了世界上最先进的造船技术。
中国还在马耳他南部建造了一座大型防波堤，为货物运输提供了另一个主要港口。近年来，在土地和房地产建设方面，马耳他也迎来了中国前所未有的投资热潮。
作为“一带一路”倡议的一部分，上海电力有限公司已经在马耳他的电力生产上投入了3亿2000万欧元。过去，马耳他的电力需要使用柴油发电机，可是这些过时的技术污染严重，效率低下。
现在上海电力有限公司将马耳他的电力生产从柴油完全转变成天然气，这不仅使马耳他当地的能源结构得到了成功优化，而且马耳他用户的电力成本也降低了25%。
与此同时，这一改变大大提高了马耳他电网的可靠性、安全性和稳定性。现在马耳他不仅享有更清洁、更高效的电力，而且电力成本之低在欧洲名列前茅，这使得马耳他成为更具吸引力的投资地。
由于两国拥有雄厚的合作基础，2018年11月，马耳他成为首批签署《一带一路谅解备忘录》的欧洲国家之一，这保证了马耳他在政府层面以及经济和文化领域与中国持续密切的互动。
马耳他和中国之间的友好关系已经结出了丰硕的成果，尽管2020年流行病毒使我们遭遇了困难，但未来这种关系仍然是乐观和令人期待的。作为马耳他共和国驻中华人民共和国大使，我感到鼓舞的是，两国都致力于更努力地工作，推动两国关系更加有效发展。马耳他和中国将始终不懈建设性地增进我们之间的关系，巩固和加强两国在政治、经济和文化方面的联结。
编辑 | 许成之
校对 | 闫建军
翻译｜王晓波
设计 | 大 米