During the May Day holiday, partners of innovation cooperation from around the world spoke about the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and their story with Pingshan during a 72-hour livestream held by the district.

Peter Vesterbacka, Founder of Angry Bird and Slush

“The service sector, infrastructure and conference venues in Pingshan are great,” said Peter Vesterbacka, who brought Slush to the district last year. He hoped to enhance his cooperative relationship with Pingshan, attracting more innovative businesses to the district.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Vesterbacka saw challenges as well as opportunities, citing the project of Ambitious Africa, which has since been moved online. He said the work efficiency of the project has improved through online working, as government ministers and high-rank officials got directly involved.

Vesterbacka is optimistic, saying that Slush was actually founded after the 2008 global financial crisis. He reminded us to see potential changes and opportunities brought by crisis instead of the negative impacts.

Dr Ethan Kholdebarin, Director of Shenzhen Samii Medical Center

“I have two homes, one in Washington, one in Pingshan,” said Dr Kholdebarin, who established Shenzhen Samii Medical Center in Pingshan two years ago. During the COVID-19 outbreak, the hospital actively took part in the fight against the virus.

“The government of Pingshan District has done an impressive job,” said Dr Kholdebarin, citing the logistic supply of daily necessities, contact tracing and the isolation and treatment of patients. He also recalled the experience when his German team helped Shenzhen to fight the virus, and later Shenzhen provided support to Germany in return.

Jamie Andrews, Head of Culture and Learning of the British Library

“The most interesting and exciting projects I got involved in the past few years was cooperation with my Chinese friends,” commented Andrews, who visited Shenzhen several times and was highly impressed by the city's innovative vigor.

“Although I've never visited Pingshan, I've heard that the Pingshan Library will open a music archive.” Andrews said that audio recordings are very important for a library. He also showed a short video during the livestream and welcomed the people in Shenzhen to visit the British Library. Andrews said he looked forward to visiting the Pingshan Library as well.

Antti Rantakokko, President of the Mayors International Association in Finland

Rantakokko served as mayor in several Finnish cities and is now the president and senior advisor of the Mayors International Association in Finland. He said that Slush is a very successful brand in Finland and provides a great platform for innovation and start-ups. Having visited Pingshan last year, Rantakokko is looking forward to more opportunities of cooperation with the district although he has retired from the mayor's office.

Atso Vainio, Mayor of Uusikaupunki Town

During the livestream, the Finnish mayor shared the latest statistics of the pandemic in Finland. “I’m very worried about businesses struggling amid the pandemic,” said Vainio, “many small businesses and companies have to close and I'm concerned about the economic impact of the virus.” As mayor, Mr. Vainio said that it was vital to slow down the spread so that the public health system would not be overwhelmed.

Mr. Vainio had visited Shenzhen ten years ago, and he was impressed by the fresh air in the beautiful city. He visited the BYD factory and said he is interested in further cooperation with Shenzhen as electric cars became more popular. “Compared to Shenzhen, my city is quite small,” said Vainio as he hoped that greater cooperation with Shenzhen and Pingshan would benefit both sides.

Masayuki Tagawa, Deputy Director of the Management Department of BTET

BTET is a joint venture founded in Pingshan by Toyota and BYD in late March this year. Tagawa credited the joint efforts by the two companies as well as the support from the district’s government to found the company amid the pandemic. As the coronavirus came under control in April, Tagawa was appointed to BTET from another subsidiary of Toyota.

Due to the border closure during the pandemic, many members of the company cannot come to China from Japan at the moment. Tagawa hopes that his Japanese colleagues will be able to come to their new posts as soon as possible and develop electric cars that are welcomed by Chinese consumers.