Bill Gates, American business magnate, philanthropist and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recently gave an exclusive interview to the People’s Daily out of his busy schedule before he licks off a Chinese visit.
作為美國(guó)著名實(shí)業(yè)家、慈善家,比爾及梅琳達(dá).蓋茨基金會(huì)聯(lián)席主席比爾.蓋茨每天的日程非常緊張,他最近的一個(gè)旅行目的地是中國(guó)。就在比爾.蓋茨啟程訪華前幾天,他接受了《人民日?qǐng)?bào)》的獨(dú)家專訪。
Q:Thank you very much for your time. I hear that you will visit China soon. The first time you visited China was in 1994, still remember your first impression of China?
問(wèn):非常感謝您應(yīng)邀接受采訪。聽(tīng)說(shuō)您即將訪問(wèn)中國(guó)。記得您第一次訪華是在1994年,您對(duì)中國(guó)的印象如何?
A: Every time I go, you know China’s advancing, whether it’s the buildings, or the people we are meeting with, or the technology. So it’s been exciting to keep going back and see how quickly it’s improving.
答:每次我去中國(guó),都能感受到中國(guó)的飛速發(fā)展,無(wú)論是拔地而起的建筑還是我所見(jiàn)到的人或科技創(chuàng)新。時(shí)常去中國(guó)走走,見(jiàn)證中國(guó)的迅猛發(fā)展是件令人激動(dòng)的事。
Q: You’ve made so many trips to China over the years. What do you think is the most significant change that has taken place in China?
問(wèn):過(guò)去這些年里,您曾多次訪華,您認(rèn)為中國(guó)發(fā)生的最大變化是什么?
A: I’d say two things. One is the miracle of Chinese economic development, lifting people out of poverty, building up the infrastructure, and developing world-class universities.
答:我想說(shuō)兩點(diǎn)。一是中國(guó)創(chuàng)造了發(fā)展奇跡,億萬(wàn)人民擺脫了貧困,基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施狀況得到全面改善,建成世界頂級(jí)大學(xué)等,速度之快令人驚奇。
I remember almost every year somebody says, well now the China boom will reach its limits. And then 3 years later, they’ll say it’s reached its limits…Of course, even today there’s some strains and challenges, but still the growth is lifting people up. And it’s quite impressive.
幾乎每年都有人在說(shuō)“中國(guó)的發(fā)展要觸頂了”,然后過(guò)了幾年,他們又喊“現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)觸頂了”……當(dāng)然,中國(guó)今天所面臨的挑戰(zhàn)還有很多,但中國(guó)仍在發(fā)展,仍在提升人民生活水平,這是很引人注目的。
The second thing I’d say is that China is embracing its role in the world more. Of course its first priority was the poverty in the country, but in parallel to that now China has joined the World Trade Organization, and China’s made really big commitments to Africa, both financially and about partnership. And in the region, the Belt & Road project is about tying together the economies for mutual benefit. So all of that has been exciting to see.
二是中國(guó)在世界舞臺(tái)上的角色日益重要。雖然解決本國(guó)貧困等仍在首要問(wèn)題之列,但中國(guó)在推動(dòng)全球發(fā)展中的作用不斷凸顯——加入世界貿(mào)易組織;對(duì)非洲發(fā)展作出巨大承諾,包括在經(jīng)濟(jì)及伙伴關(guān)系上予以支持;在區(qū)域發(fā)展層面,通過(guò)“一帶一路”等促進(jìn)了國(guó)家間合作及經(jīng)濟(jì)互利共贏。所有這些都是振奮人心的變化。
Q: What’s the strategic focus of the Gates Foundation in China? How do you see China’s role in global development and governance?
問(wèn):蓋茨基金會(huì)在中國(guó)的戰(zhàn)略重點(diǎn)是什么?您如何看待中國(guó)在全球發(fā)展和治理中的角色?
A: The work of the Gates Foundation in China has two phases. One is the work in China itself, helping people with HIV, helping avoid people getting infected, working on tuberculosis and smoking (control).
答:蓋茨基金會(huì)在中國(guó)的工作分為兩個(gè)層面。一是致力于幫助中國(guó)應(yīng)對(duì)國(guó)內(nèi)的挑戰(zhàn),比如艾滋病和結(jié)核病防治以及煙草控制等。
Our second phase is a three-way partnership, where developing countries, China and the foundation find ways to work together. And taking some (of China’s) strengths like livestock vaccines; rice, including super green rice, where China’s very strong. So, (there’re) many examples. Ethiopia is a good example, where funding animal vaccine projects are what we are working on together.
二是通過(guò)在中國(guó)、其他發(fā)展中國(guó)家與基金會(huì)三者之間建立的伙伴關(guān)系,尋找攜手合作的途徑。同時(shí),發(fā)揮中國(guó)的強(qiáng)項(xiàng),如畜禽疫苗、水稻種植等,幫助其他發(fā)展中國(guó)家。這方面例子有很多,比如在埃塞俄比亞,我們正與中非發(fā)展基金合作,資助當(dāng)?shù)氐膭?dòng)物疫苗項(xiàng)目。
So the commitment to help other parts of the world is very important. That’s something that historically the U.S. has been very good at, but I’d be disappointed if the US cuts back. But it’s fantastic that China, because of its success, is joining in and in its unique way. So I am glad to see the leadership. For example, the $60 billion commitment made in Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to help the African countries is a realistic acceleration under China’s leadership.
承諾幫助世界其他國(guó)家尤其重要。美國(guó)曾經(jīng)在這方面做得很好,但是如果美國(guó)大幅削減對(duì)外援助,我將會(huì)特別失望。令人欣慰的是,中國(guó)基于自身發(fā)展的成功,正以比較獨(dú)特的方式參與到全球發(fā)展之中。所以我很高興看到中國(guó)在此領(lǐng)域發(fā)揮領(lǐng)導(dǎo)作用。例如,中國(guó)在2015年中非合作論壇約翰內(nèi)斯堡峰會(huì)上,承諾為非洲提供600億美元資金支持——這是中國(guó)在推動(dòng)全球發(fā)展方面提升領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力的現(xiàn)實(shí)體現(xiàn)。
The Chinese partnership will go and help to accelerate that improvement. And there are many lessons and things that China did very, very well, in the agricultural economy and manufacturing economy.
在很多領(lǐng)域,中國(guó)都積累了大量可以分享的成功經(jīng)驗(yàn),比如農(nóng)業(yè)和制造業(yè)領(lǐng)域的發(fā)展等。中國(guó)可以幫助世界加速前進(jìn)的步伐。
Q: Being a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist, you have made substantial contribution to communication and collaboration between the two countries. Based on your own experiences, how do you see the role that business collaboration plays in Sino-U.S. relations?
問(wèn):作為一個(gè)成功的企業(yè)家和慈善家,您為中美兩國(guó)之間的交流與合作作出了不少貢獻(xiàn)。您如何看待商業(yè)合作在中美關(guān)系中扮演的角色?
A: I do think that the business context is quite critical. We cannot rely just on government to government, we need business to business, and we need people to people type things as well, such as student exchange. We need to keep the level of interaction up at every level.
答:我覺(jué)得商業(yè)合作是重中之重。我們不能單純依靠政府間對(duì)話,我們需要商界與商界之間、人民與人民之間的溝通,還包括學(xué)生交換等。我們需要保持美中之間交流的深度和廣度。
Q: Your life story is legendary to many people. What do you personally find as your greatest achievement in life and in work?
問(wèn):對(duì)于很多人而言,您的人生經(jīng)歷頗具傳奇色彩。您個(gè)人認(rèn)為自己的工作和生活中最大的成就是什么?
A: I am super lucky. I’ve been in the area where things have been changing and been part of the digital revolution, the magic of software, the internet, the computer, and now the cellphone… so it’s been a great privilege. For me, I like to read and learn. There are always so many new things, like artificial intelligence, is now a big thing. We are making rapid advances. All the top companies and universities, rapid advances there.
答:我覺(jué)得自己超級(jí)幸運(yùn)。我身處的領(lǐng)域是持續(xù)變化的數(shù)字革命的一部分,可以親身體驗(yàn)軟件、互聯(lián)網(wǎng)、計(jì)算機(jī)以及手機(jī)的魔力。我個(gè)人特別喜歡讀書(shū)和學(xué)習(xí)。而我們身邊總是有很多新鮮事物(值得研究),比如當(dāng)前特別熱門(mén)的人工智能。幾乎所有的頂級(jí)公司和大學(xué)都在這個(gè)領(lǐng)域取得了飛速進(jìn)展。