Central China city unveils statue for German expert

A ceremony was held Sunday in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, to unveil a bronze statue of Werner Gerich, former leader of a local diesel engine plant.

Gerich, who died in Germany on April 17, 2003, was well-known in China for being the first foreigner to head a Chinese venture since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Some 100 Chinese and foreign guests attended the ceremony, including Gerich's wife and son, mayor of Gerich's hometown Duisburg, officials from State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs ( SAFEA) and the Foreign Ministry.

The statue, a 0.84-meter-high bust and a 2.3-meter-high pedestal, stands in an industrial park where Gerich once worked. Wuhan also made another same bronze statue and presented it to Duisburg as a gift.

The German expert came to Wuhan in October 1984 as an expert with Wuhan Diesel Engine Plant after his retirement from Duisburg in Germany. Later, he was appointed as director of the Plant for two years.

During his two-year tenure, Gerich improved the plant's management and focused on upgrading product quality. The rate of waste products reduced from 35 percent to less than 10 percent. The life of the plant's diesel engines was extended from 700 hours to 7,000 hours and the products entered the world market.

Wuhan Mayor Li Xiansheng said: "We build statue for Gerich is to express our deep respect and yearn for him, and also our sincere appreciation for his great contribution to helping Wuhan's economic construction and enterprises reform, as well as enhancing the friendship between Chinese and German peoples."

Gerich's statue stands for the friendship between Wuhan and Duisburg, a pair of sister cities, and Chinese and German peoples, Li said.

Bernde Gerich, Gerich's 58-year-old son, said he and the whole family felt quite "impressed" by the statue made by Wuhan government. He is also an engineer in the automobile industry. "I am considering coming to China after my retirement two years later to do something like my father," he said.

Li Bing, SAFEA deputy director general, said China still needs more and more overseas experts like Gerich to join our economic construction."Such personnel exchanges will further promote the cooperation in culture, education, technology and trade between China and the world,"Li said.