Shanghai honors 30 expatriates for their contributions to the city

The Shanghai municipal government conferred on Sept 29 the 2025 Magnolia Gold Award on 28 foreign nationals and the Honorary Citizen of Shanghai on two expatriates, recognizing their positive contributions to the city's development and international exchanges.

This year's Honorary Citizen of Shanghai, the city's highest honor for foreign nationals, was presented to Simon Lichtenberg, founder of Trayton Group and president of the Danish Chamber of Commerce in China and Severin Schwan, chairman of the board of directors of the Swiss healthcare company Roche Group and the executive chairman of the International Business Leaders' Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai.

Lichtenberg, who describes himself as a "vibrant and adventurous" type, has been connected to China since his youth through learning Chinese. In Shanghai for 33 years, he said he has always felt the city's welcoming, openness, and acceptance, and witnessed the rapid economic and social development of the city and the nation.

"Shanghai has become a global leading international city in so many ways: investment opportunities, business environment, technology, culture, education, innovation, social development, and it is so very well managed. The people of Shanghai are industrious, innovative, and resilient. Shanghai is my home and it's a wonderful place for me, my business, and my family," he said.

However, he noted that Shanghai and China are not well understood by many people in the West. Now, as an Honorary Citizen of Shanghai, he is particularly feeling "a big responsibility in doing more to play a bridging role" to foster understanding and friendship, as well as deepen mutually beneficial cooperation between people and countries.

Named after Shanghai's city flower and serving as the city's highest honor for expatriates, the Honorary Citizenship was established in 1997, following the launch of the Magnolia Silver Award in 1989 and the Gold Award in 1992. To date, a total of 1,907 honored expatriates have been honored by the city, consisting of 51 Honorary Citizens of Shanghai, 390 Magnolia Gold Award recipients, and 1,466 Magnolia Silver Award recipients.

This year, the 28 Magnolia Gold Award recipients come from diverse countries and fields such as finance, trade, technology, shipping, healthcare, consumer products, education, research, and culture. Despite different expertise in various sectors, they share the same love for the city and confidence in its future.

Yann Bozec from France, president of Tapestry Asia-Pacific, regards Shanghai as a "unique" city globally for its strong blend of the 5,000-year-old history and cutting-edge modernity. Seeing the city developing into one of the key fashion cities in the world, he was confident that more innovation and cool things would come from China, and especially from the city.

"People here are incredible entrepreneurs and are always very resilient. They embrace the changes, bring the newness, embrace new technology, and drive it as well. That's why I feel Shanghai is the most exciting city to live in," Bozec added.

"Innovation" was one of the most frequently mentioned words by the award recipients when talking about working and living in Shanghai. Bertrand Regnier from France, global managing partner of EY French Business Network, said Shanghai has been making efforts to facilitate innovation, which is not only for China, but also for the world to continuously grow.

Joost Vlaanderen from the Netherlands, president of Mondelez Greater China, has been living in Shanghai since 2018, and is spending 10 hours per week studying Chinese. He was deeply impressed by the city's speed of growth and believes such development will continue.

"The thing I like most working and living here is the speed of change and the speed of development in China — it's addictive", he said. "Shanghai is my second hometown."

Several other award recipients share similar sentiments with Vlaanderen.

"Shanghai is the land of opportunities. And it's my home not only now, but forever. I have the permanent resident card here, and my family is here. I will not leave — here will be where I stay and where I retire," said Gary Knight with a smile, who enjoys life with the welcoming culture, food, profound civilization, and especially the "irreplaceable" Chinese people each day.

Alexander Rhys Gregg-Smith from the United Kingdom, senior vice-president at Bureau Veritas Marine (China) Co Ltd, has been in Shanghai for 13 years and became a permanent resident in the city in 2020. Dedicated to the maritime sector, he feels "belonged" to the city and especially loves the "can-do attitude" of the people here.

"Shanghai is like my home city, and it's really one of the best, if not the best, in the world. It is a vibrant, fantastic, and brilliant city — it has everything," he said.

It is just the sense of feeling like home that may explain why these honored expats are actively thinking about contributing more to the community and the city.

Bozec is looking to work with a group of friends to establish a mentorship to support students in better adapting to the working community. Masahiko Suga from Japan, general manager of the business design department at Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co Ltd, is hoping to promote China-Japan cooperation in sectors such as fintech, green growth, and digitalization. Michel Hossler from France, founder and chief designer at Agence Ter, would like to fill the city with more green through landscape designs.

Honorary Citizens of Shanghai 2025

1. 李曦萌 丹麥

特雷通集團創始人兼CEO

Simon Lichtenberg, Denmark

Founder and CEO, Trayton Group

2. 施萬 瑞士

羅氏集團董事會主席

Severin Schwan, Switzerland

Chairman, Roche Group

Honorees of Shanghai Magnolia Gold Award 2025

1. 埃里克·科尼埃爾 法國

上海交通大學中歐國際工商學院 副理事長

Eric Pierre Valéry Cornuel, France

Vice Chairman and Board of Directors of China Europe International Business School, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

2. 安南 法國

法吉泰工程技術（上海）有限公司（也稱 GTT 中國） 總經理

Adnan Ezzarhouni, France

General Manager, GTT China

3. 戴光輝 美國

瀾起科技股份有限公司 總裁

Stephen Kuong-Io Tai, USA

President, Montage Technology Co., Ltd.

4. 德里克·迪恩 英國

上海芭蕾舞團 藝術顧問

David Derek Shepherd, UK

Artistic Consultant, Shanghai Ballet

5. 范睿思 荷蘭

億滋國際 大中華區總裁

Joost Vlaanderen, Netherlands

President of Greater China, Mondelēz International

6. 福斯特 德國

蔡司集團執行董事會成員，卡爾蔡司醫療技術股份公司總裁兼首席執行官

Maximilian Foerst, Germany

Member of the Executive Board of the Zeiss Grou, President and CEO of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG

7. 葛思越 英國

必維船級社（中國）有限公司 法人，亞太區高級副總裁暨中國區總裁

Alexander Rhys Gregg-Smith, UK

SVP M&O APA, CE M&O China, Bureau Veritas Marine (China) Co., Ltd.

8. 古睿智 美國

上海重塑能源集團股份有限公司 首席技術官

Christopher John Guzy, USA

CTO, Shanghai REFIRE Group Limited

9. 顧宇韶 美國

美敦力（上海）管理有限公司 全球高級副總裁，大中華區總裁

Alex Yushao Gu, USA

Senior Vice President, President of Greater China, Medtronic

10. 賀朗瑞納 法國

安永華明會計師事務所（特殊普通合伙）總監 安永法國業務部全球主管合伙人

Bertrand Régnier, France

Ernst&Young Hua Ming LLP Director, EY French Business Network Global Managing Partner

11. 菅匡彥 日本

三井住友海上火災保險株式會社 創新事業部部長

Masahiko Suga, Japan

Business Design Dept. General Manager, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd.

12. 簡思華 德國、法國

德勤亞太副主席，德勤中國跨國企業客戶服務資深合伙人

Jens Ewert, Germany, France

Vice Chair of Deloitte Asia Pacific, Senior Partner of Deloitte China MNC Clients Service

13. 杰夫 澳大利亞

上海大學 理學院量子與分子結構國際中心主任

Jeffrey Robert Reimers, Australia

Director of International Centre for Quantum and Molecular Structures, Shanghai University

14. 康思大 美國

同濟大學 設計創意學院教授

Constantinos A Terzidis, USA

Professor of College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University

15. 柯曼 德國

思愛普（中國）有限公司 全球高級副總裁，全球研發網絡總裁

Clas Neumann, Germany

Senior VP, Head of Global SAP Labs Network, SAP China Co., Ltd

16. 孔康瑞 美國

英威達尼龍化工（中國）有限公司董事長，英威達一體化尼龍運營副總裁

Gary Knight, USA

Chairman of INVISTA Nylon Chemicals (China) Co., Ltd. VP of Integrated Nylon Operations, INVISTA

17. 朗智文 新加坡

江森自控 亞太區總裁

Anuruddha Rathnide, Singapore

Asia Pacific President Johnson Controls

18. 樓劍鋒 美國

巴斯夫（中國）有限公司 大中華區董事長兼總裁

Jeffrey Lou, USA

President and Chairman of Greater China, BASF (China) Company Ltd.

19. 馬溯·斯特貝爾 美國

華東師范大學 設計學院行業產業導師

Jay Marshall Strabala, USA

Industry Tutor of School of Design, East China Normal University

20. 米歇爾·歐斯萊 法國

法國 TER（岱禾）景觀與城市規劃設計事務所 創始人兼首席設計師

Michel Hossler, France

Founder, Chief Designer, AGENCE TER

21. 諾伯特 德國

洛帝牢緊固系統（上海）有限公司 亞太區執行董事

Norbert Aloysius Hentschel, Germany

Regional Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Nord-Lock (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

22. 彭振科 法國

輝瑞全球高級副總裁，輝瑞中國區總裁

Jean-Christophe Pointeau, France

Pfizer Global Senior Vice President, Pfizer China President

23. 申安迪 英國

上海英國外籍人員子女學校 校長

Andrew Michael Lancaster, UK

School principal, The British International School Shanghai, Puxi

24. 肖松 德國

西門子（中國）有限公司 大中華區總裁兼首席執行官

Song Xiao, Germany

President and CEO, Siemens Greater China

25. 謝偉博 法國

達能亞太（上海）管理有限公司 全球執委會成員兼中國、北亞及大洋洲總裁

Bruno Chevot, France

Member of Danone Executive Committee and President China, North Asia and Oceania, DANONE

26. 楊葆焱 法國

泰佩思琦 亞太區總裁

Yann Bozec, France

Asia Pacific President, Tapestry

27. 虞晶怡 美國

上海科技大學 講席教授，副教務長兼信息科學與技術學院院長

Jingyi Yu, USA

Inaugural Chair Professor, Vice Provost and Dean of School of Information Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University

28. 約根·博樂 德國

蒂升電梯 亞太區兼中國區首席執行官

Jürgen B?hler, Germany

CEO, TK Elevator Asia Pacific and China

(Sorted by the initial letters of Chinese pinyin)

Shanghai honors 30 expatriates for their contributions to the city