"In just over 40 years, China has made the 100-year development journey of western countries, and its success warrants a careful analysis," said Peter Heinz Tichauer, media director of the Sino-German Ecopark and editor-in-chief of the German-language economics magazine China Insight in Qingdao, Shandong province.

Peter Heinz Tichauer, media director of the Sino-German Ecopark and editor-in-chief of China Insight [Photo/people.com.cn]

In the 1970s, China was not often talked about internationally. But for Tichauer, a sinology student in Germany, China is an attractive country due to its five-thousand-year history and a language system that is unlike anything else in the world.

According to Tichauer, providing enough food for 1.4 billion people is the biggest achievement China has made in its more than 40 years of reform and opening up.

"I remember in the winter of 1984, the year I first came to Beijing for a year of study at Peking University, every family stored only cabbage in their homes. People used to buy food with grain coupons," he recalled.

"Now, in any season in any city of China, you can buy a variety of fruits and vegetables in any supermarket. This is a stunning development."

From 1995 to 2018, Tichauer worked at a foreign economic publishing house in Germany.

In 1997, he co-founded China Contact with some colleagues. The German-language economics magazine mainly reports on China's economic development, especially its economic achievements since the beginning of reform and opening up and Sino-German business cooperation opportunities.

Thanks to Tichauer's efforts, the magazine has become an important platform for German enterprises seeking detailed information about investment in China, China's economic development, trade, and other information.

In 2006, Tichauer was dispatched to Beijing as a China correspondent for the magazine.

In July 2013, the Sino-German Ecopark was launched. It is the only park supported by a cooperation agreement between the governments of China and Germany.

In March 2018, at the park's invitation, Tichauer decided to quit his job in Beijing and move to Qingdao, Shandong province.

In Qingdao, he set up the German website for the Sino-German Ecopark and the German quarterly economics magazine China Insight, which is printed in China and Germany with 2,500 copies per issue.

The magazine focuses on the Chinese market, delivers real-time information related to the economic development trends of China, especially Shandong province, and focuses on the operations of German enterprises in Shandong.

"This year's first issue explores how companies are managing winter amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while the second issue explores whether German auto companies will return to Germany amid the epidemic," said Tichauer.

"The third issue, which will be published soon, explores the future prospects of China's economy and the latest trends in Chinese investment in Europe."

When asked why he chose to work at the Sino-German Ecopark, Tichauer didn't even have to hesitate.

"The park is home to companies from Germany as well as Russia, the UK, and other countries. It is developing into a small city with an open and inclusive international atmosphere," he said.