Zhu， then the vice-premier of the State Council of China， for the firsttime at the annual conference of the World Economic Forum held inDavos， Switzerland in 1997. Mr. Zhu was invited to attend that conferenceand made a presentation on the theme of “China’s Reformand Development” in fluent English. She recalled， “He was a governmentofficial who could make a speech in fluent English， withoutlooking at his paper， before an audience of thousands， and still be fullof wisdom and humor. He impressed me a lot.” From then on， she wasdeeply attracted to China. She told Mr. Zhu， “Buddhism directs mylifestyle， so I will not get married. However， if one day you becomethe Chinese Premier， I will ‘marry’ China， because I have such strongfeelings for her. After that， she returned to Germany. Her parents had alreadypassed away. Inspired by her true feelings and desires， she sold her car，the house where she had lived for many years with her parents， quither job and cozy life， and came to China by herself. She expressed herfeelings by saying， “I followed my own heart to China！ I chose Chinaas my home country so that I could do something for this country andits people. When Zhu Rongji became the fifth premier of China in March，1998， Dr. Dana Schuppert listened to Premier Zhu’s speech very carefullyin the Great Hall of the People. She was moved by his words，which are still fresh in her memory： “No matter whether there is aland mine or a bottomless chasm in front of me， I will forge aheadbravely without any thought of turning back， and do my best to serveChina and the Chinese people until my heart ceases to beat. Two years later， in 2000， when Premier Zhu visited Germany，he met Dana who was then one of the strategic consultants for ChinaGermany political relations. In the meeting， she said to Premier Zhu，“You probably still remember me. Now I have ‘married’ China， and Ihave two children – Yunnan Province and Sichuan Province！” PremierZhu was gratified by her words and smiled. The people around themalso smiled approvingly. Because of this， some Chinese officials calledher the “57th ethnic group” of China.
Dr. Dana Schuppert said that the mission of her business is tomake effective use of available resources， and protect the environmentand the precious culture of China. She also works to promote the sustainabledevelopment of the Chinese economy and society， and helpcompanies in Europe， India and China seek cooperation partners andinvestment opportunities. She has done what she said she’d do.
She showed me an exhibition program of Yunnan Province，which she had planned and prepared for five years， as a window ofYunnan for Europeans and Indians to know more about the province.
When asked about the reason of doing so， she answered， moving everyChinese： “Only because I love Yunnan so much！ She personally invited Krishna Warrier， the former governor ofKarnataka， also known as “the father of the Asian Silicon Valley”， to284 China， where he paid successful visits to Beijing， Kunming， Chengduand Shanghai.
She helped in the opening of the China-India High-level CulturalExchange Conference， and founded the “21 st Century China-IndiaCultural and Economic Exchange Center” in Lijiang， Yunnan Province.
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She loves the cultures of China and India and hopes that the twoneighboring countries with similar cultural resources can cooperatewell together. She would like to offer her help to further mutual understandingand cooperation between China and India. Based on her understandingof India and the life she had lived there， she gave herselfan Indian name — Dana， which comes from the old Sanskrit languageand means “happiness from giving” — a guideline for her life.
Dr. Dana Schuppert often says， “I am a European with a Chineseheart. I’ve married China and China is my home country. Indiais my brother and I have an Indian name.” This is precisely why shespends her time and energy on promoting communication betweenChina and India. One of the missions of her company StrategicEuropean Investment Management Ltd. is to help companies fromEurope， India and China seek cooperation partners and investment opportunitiesby integrating and balancing value differences between theEast and West.
It is her personal ability and influence， especially her role as astrategic consultant in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces， that gave Dr.
Dana Schuppert a Chinese nickname： the female Zhuge Liang.
Dana’s “Three Boyfriends When speaking of traditional Chinese culture， Dana said in enthusiastictones that the Chinese culture is the best in the world. It is itsculture and its value that makes this country the most attractive nation.
Dr. Schuppert pointed out that Chinese philosophy is a practicalphilosophy. Unlike the abstract philosophies of Germany， people canrecognize their own experiences in Chinese works like The Classicof the Way and Virtue， The Analects of Confucius and The Art of War.
Chinese philosophy practically explains profound theories of life usingsimple sayings and proverbs， providing significant inspiration andvaluable advice for our life and work. In fact， she read these worksin German in her father’s study when she was a young girl. She wasdeeply influenced by their profound ideas.
The Dao or Way of Lao Zi， though it speaks of infinity， tells peopleto follow current trends; Confucius （551- 47 9 BC） tells peoplethe importance of “moderation”， “not going too far or staying tooclose”。 The Art of War has become a magic weapon for strategists.
