Newman Huo

THE Finnish consul general in Guangzhou, Hannu Toivola, took a keen interest in seeing the changes in Shenzhen since he first visited the city in November 1971.

“At that time, Shenzhen was only an agricultural area and there was nothing to see,” Toivola, 65, said in an exclusive interview with the Shenzhen Daily on Thursday on the sidelines of the annual MPC session.

“It is still very difficult to understand how such a world-class city like Shenzhen has been created,” he said.

“It took hundreds of years for big cities to be created in Europe, but everything has been happening so fast here in China,” he said.

In 1971, he was working for the Finnish Ministry of Trade and Industry when he joined a trade delegation to visit China.

Toivola was proud to meet Premier Zhou Enlai, the late Chinese leader, when the Finnish delegation was welcomed at a reception in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

After visiting Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Toivola and the Finnish delegation took a train in Guangzhou heading for Hong Kong and made a stop in Shenzhen.

Having worked as a foreign diplomat for Finland for more than 23 years, Toivola moved with his wife, Paivi, to China to work as Finnish consul general in Shanghai in 1998. In January 2005, he moved on to Guangzhou to open the Finnish consulate there.

“In my opinion, Shenzhen is one of the most beautiful cities in China and I particularly love visiting the downtown area,” he said. “There are really many opportunities for Finland to cooperate with Shenzhen.”

According to Toivola, there are a total of 35 Finnish companies investing in Guangdong Province, of which four information technology companies are operating in Shenzhen.

FinChi Shenzhen Office was established by the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Finland, together with Finnish companies Finpro and Tekes, in the city’s high-tech industrial park in Nanshan District in October 2007.

Because they cannot read Chinese newspapers, Toivola and his wife both like reading the Shenzhen Daily every day.

“Since I live in Guangzhou, I like to know what is going on in the southern part of China through reading the Shenzhen Daily,” said Paivi.

Toivola believes the Shenzhen Daily, the only English-language newspaper on the southern Chinese mainland, has done a commendable job covering the news in Shenzhen, but needs to do more to “cover the news in Guangzhou, Dongguan and other cities in the Pearl River Delta region.”

Newman Huo

THE Finnish consul general in Guangzhou, Hannu Toivola, took a keen interest in seeing the changes in Shenzhen since he first visited the city in November 1971.

“At that time, Shenzhen was only an agricultural area and there was nothing to see,” Toivola, 65, said in an exclusive interview with the Shenzhen Daily on Thursday on the sidelines of the annual MPC session.

“It is still very difficult to understand how such a world-class city like Shenzhen has been created,” he said.

“It took hundreds of years for big cities to be created in Europe, but everything has been happening so fast here in China,” he said.

In 1971, he was working for the Finnish Ministry of Trade and Industry when he joined a trade delegation to visit China.

Toivola was proud to meet Premier Zhou Enlai, the late Chinese leader, when the Finnish delegation was welcomed at a reception in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

After visiting Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Toivola and the Finnish delegation took a train in Guangzhou heading for Hong Kong and made a stop in Shenzhen.

Having worked as a foreign diplomat for Finland for more than 23 years, Toivola moved with his wife, Paivi, to China to work as Finnish consul general in Shanghai in 1998. In January 2005, he moved on to Guangzhou to open the Finnish consulate there.

“In my opinion, Shenzhen is one of the most beautiful cities in China and I particularly love visiting the downtown area,” he said. “There are really many opportunities for Finland to cooperate with Shenzhen.”

According to Toivola, there are a total of 35 Finnish companies investing in Guangdong Province, of which four information technology companies are operating in Shenzhen.

FinChi Shenzhen Office was established by the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Finland, together with Finnish companies Finpro and Tekes, in the city’s high-tech industrial park in Nanshan District in October 2007.

Because they cannot read Chinese newspapers, Toivola and his wife both like reading the Shenzhen Daily every day.

“Since I live in Guangzhou, I like to know what is going on in the southern part of China through reading the Shenzhen Daily,” said Paivi.

Toivola believes the Shenzhen Daily, the only English-language newspaper on the southern Chinese mainland, has done a commendable job covering the news in Shenzhen, but needs to do more to “cover the news in Guangzhou, Dongguan and other cities in the Pearl River Delta region.”

Newman Huo

THE Finnish consul general in Guangzhou, Hannu Toivola, took a keen interest in seeing the changes in Shenzhen since he first visited the city in November 1971.

“At that time, Shenzhen was only an agricultural area and there was nothing to see,” Toivola, 65, said in an exclusive interview with the Shenzhen Daily on Thursday on the sidelines of the annual MPC session.

“It is still very difficult to understand how such a world-class city like Shenzhen has been created,” he said.

“It took hundreds of years for big cities to be created in Europe, but everything has been happening so fast here in China,” he said.

In 1971, he was working for the Finnish Ministry of Trade and Industry when he joined a trade delegation to visit China.

Toivola was proud to meet Premier Zhou Enlai, the late Chinese leader, when the Finnish delegation was welcomed at a reception in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

After visiting Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Toivola and the Finnish delegation took a train in Guangzhou heading for Hong Kong and made a stop in Shenzhen.

Having worked as a foreign diplomat for Finland for more than 23 years, Toivola moved with his wife, Paivi, to China to work as Finnish consul general in Shanghai in 1998. In January 2005, he moved on to Guangzhou to open the Finnish consulate there.

“In my opinion, Shenzhen is one of the most beautiful cities in China and I particularly love visiting the downtown area,” he said. “There are really many opportunities for Finland to cooperate with Shenzhen.”

According to Toivola, there are a total of 35 Finnish companies investing in Guangdong Province, of which four information technology companies are operating in Shenzhen.

FinChi Shenzhen Office was established by the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Finland, together with Finnish companies Finpro and Tekes, in the city’s high-tech industrial park in Nanshan District in October 2007.

Because they cannot read Chinese newspapers, Toivola and his wife both like reading the Shenzhen Daily every day.

“Since I live in Guangzhou, I like to know what is going on in the southern part of China through reading the Shenzhen Daily,” said Paivi.

Toivola believes the Shenzhen Daily, the only English-language newspaper on the southern Chinese mainland, has done a commendable job covering the news in Shenzhen, but needs to do more to “cover the news in Guangzhou, Dongguan and other cities in the Pearl River Delta region.”