Danish diplomats’ new digs

Friis Arne Petersen, the Ambassador of Denmark to China, speaks at the inauguration. (Photo: Global Times)

As part of the celebrations for the 65th year anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Denmark, the Danish Consulate General in Shanghai inaugurated their new offices Thursday.

About 200 guests attended the ceremony, where a traditional Chinese lion dance was performed to make the atmosphere more festive.

The expansion of the consulate's office in Shanghai illustrated the growing ties between China and Denmark and shows how important China has become to Danish commercial, government and cultural interests, said Friis Arne Petersen, the Ambassador of Denmark to China. "Denmark is the only country in the world that has unbroken diplomatic ties with China since 1908, and 65 years ago Denmark recognized the People's Republic of China as one of the first Western countries to do so," he told the Global Times.

The Danish consulate in Shanghai has been at the Shanghai International Trade Center in Changning district since 1994. But the consulate decided to relocate to a new office on the building's 31st floor to consolidate its staff in one place, said Nicolai Prytz, the Consul General of Denmark in Shanghai.

"This is not just about moving. It's about bringing together our different areas of businesses in Shanghai," he told the Global Times. "We are currently focused on trade promotion, innovation, attraction of investment to Denmark, and we also have our visa section. We want to bring these four things together, which used to be left in separate premises, in order to better serve Danish as well as Chinese clients, being either businesses or Chinese individuals who want to go to Denmark. We want to become a one-stop shop to give a better and a more comprehensive attention to the people we work with."

Prytz hopes that the new office will become a center for holding Danish activities. "The large meeting room is designed to host different kinds of activities like small exhibitions and seminars," he said.

The office has been designed to be an open space, except for the visa processing section, where personal files are kept. That area has been portioned with glass walls out of security concerns.

When asked if the new office would allow the consulate to process visas faster, Prytz said the visa team is keeping the processing time to three to four work days provided that the applications have been filled out correctly. "On top of that, we even have a specialized program, called the red carpet agreement, which is built to facilitate business relations between China and Denmark even more. The visa processing time for a client entitled to the red carpet agreement can go faster than three to four days, down to two to three days and they don't need to renew it as frequently," he said.

In 2014, the Danish consulate in Shanghai issued 7,490 visas, with the rejection rate as low as 0.23 percent. The relocation of the consulate's office doesn't change the fact that Danish visa applicants still need to submit their applications at the Denmark Visa Application Centre in Shanghai. The center is still on the third floor of Guangdong Development Bank Tower, No.555, Xujiahui Road.

While the opening of the consulate's new office in Shanghai has served to launch its activities commemorating Denmark's establishment of diplomatic ties with China, the ambassador said that people could expect more exciting events soon, like the exhibition of an ancient Viking ship. "It is a 1,000-year-old ship construction and the most beautifully designed ship ever created. It is coming to Suzhou in March," Petersen said.

According to the ambassador, something even bigger is coming in May. "We will try to have very important visits on the 11th of May when we'll adopt an important political program of cooperation between China and Denmark for the next years. That will be the most important document for us. We will have a lot of commercial visits and activities in May," he said.