China expert and premium speaker Frank Sieren on the country that is shaping our future
Those who are frightened by China as a world power should confront their fears, leading German China expert, journalist, book author and documentary filmmaker Frank Sieren would say.
“Sieren sharpens the mind,” said Deutschland Radio Kultur about the man who knows China inside out and uses his knowledge to build bridges between cultures that, at first glance, might not quite fit together. With his work, Frank Sieren wants to take away rejection and fear of a culture that seems foreign to us. He wants to break down prejudices and make room for openness and curiosity towards the world power whose influences we also clearly feel here in Europe.
Frank Sieren wants to create understanding and building bridges between cultures
The China expert Frank Sieren has moved his center of life to Beijing since 1994, so he has lived in the Middle Kingdom longer than any other Western business journalist. From there, he follows the process of the emerging world power. Frank Sieren enlightens, awakens understanding and ensures that the two sides work together instead of against each other. “Sieren looks into the future without falling for visions and ideologies,” said former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt about one of his books.
Frank Sieren works for the “China.Table” and has written and spoken as a correspondent for the “Süddeutsche Zeitung,” the “Wirtschaftswoche,” the “Zeit,” the “Handelsblatt,” the “Tagesspiegel” and Deutsche Welle in recent decades. Sieren has already published several bestsellers, most recently “Future? China!”
In fact, the 57-year-old in Germany’s Saarbrücken-born journalist has written more China books than any other German journalist. He is also the author of numerous TV documentaries for ARD and ZDF. Through his books and films, he objectively shows the impact that the global expansion of the Chinese economy is having on other economies.
Shenzhen: The Metropolis of the Future between Creativity and Surveillance
In his most recent book, published in May 2021, “Shenzhen: The Metropolis of the Future Between Creativity and Surveillance,” Frank Sieren shows how to live, reside and work in a metropolis of 20 million people in southern China and the impact Shenzen, which is one of the most innovative cities in the world, could have on our future lives.
The German daily newspaper “Die Welt” wrote about the book: “With a view to the relationship between Europe and China, Sieren asks whether and to what extent the transformation processes taking place in Shenzhen will also shape our future: Which way does the balance between individualism and community, between freedom and control tilt?”
A question of future living
Questions that concern not only private individuals, but also companies. In his most recent lecture, “Future? China!”, Frank Sieren explores, for example, what makes the new superpower so successful and how much Europe, including Germany, is losing its economic and political connection:
“China is acting ambitiously, quickly and innovatively, is well organized and no longer allows us to dictate to it. For the first time in centuries, an Asian country is now becoming a world power. Meanwhile, it is even challenging our values,”
says Frank Sieren. And he also warns:
“We underestimate China’s power. Already today, the Chinese have more influence on our lives than Google, Facebook & Co.”
Anyone who wants to know what influence the lifestyle from the Middle Kingdom will also have for us in Europe and other parts of the world needs Frank Sieren as keynote speaker.