Swedish State Visit to China: July 17-22, 2006

[GrandDuchess]

A while ago I heard on the radio that the Swedish Ambassador to The People's Republic of China has confirmed that the King and Queen will pay a visit to the country in July. The Swedish Consulate General in Guangzhou has also confirmed it. (The dates are not official yet, the dates in the title is my guess out of the information I've heard and read of activities so far.)

The welcoming ceremonies will take place in Guangzhou/Canton, as the King and Queen will arive to the city on the andaman ship Götheborg that is scheduled to be in China for some time this summer. After that, the King and Queen will visit Beijing were President Hu Jintao will receive them.

Their Majesties will be accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and President of the United Nations General Assembly, Jan Eliasson.

PS. Since there's been no announcement from the Government Offices so far, we don't know many details yet...

http://www.swedenabroad.com/pages/news____50034.asp

 

[GrandDuchess]

A press release from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs yesterday confirms the dates to be 17-22 July.

The King and Queen will be onboard the East Indiaman ship Götheborg when it arrives in Guangzhou/Canton on 18 July.

The King and Queen will visit Beijing 19-20 July, where they will be received by the President of The People's Republic of China. They will also meet with the Mayor of Beijing, visit the Olympic village, and open Ericsson's new office in the capital.

In Beijing, the Royal Couple will be accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jan Eliasson, and Under-Secretary of State, Lars-Olof Lindgren. Accompanying the King and Queen will also be a business delegation of 20-something companies, led by the Chairman of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, Michael Treschow.

On 21 July, the King and Queen return to Guangzhou/Canton to attend the large welcoming arrangements planned for when the ship Götheborg will arrive in the central parts of the city, they will sail on a large Chinese djonk built especially to receive the East Indiaman at sea.

http://utrikes.regeringen.se/sb/a/65952

 

[Josefine]

so today the state visits starts does anyone know how many galas there will be?

 

[purple_platinum]

The King and Queen will be onboard the East Indiaman ship Götheborg when it arrives in Guangzhou/Canton on 18 July.

The east-indiaman ship Gotheburg has arrived in Guangzhou.
Gotheburg docked at Nansha Harbour in Guangzhou.
but so far, i've not seen the King & Queen.. maybe sometime soon.

You can see pictures from the Gotheburg's arrival here

a picture from CFP :


--
http://news3.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-07/11/content_4819369.htm

Swedish sailing ship to arrive in China on July 17

BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhua) -- The replica of the legendary 18th Century Swedish merchant ship "Gotheborg" is due to arrive in South China's Guangdong Province on July 17 to coincide with the arrival of Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf in China. The Gotheborg symbolized 260 years of friendly relations between Sweden and China, and would promote exchanges between the two countries, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu Tuesday.
(...)
King Carl XVI Gustaf will pay a state visit to China from July 17 to 22, at the invitation of the Chinese President Hu Jintao.

 

[GrandDuchess]

In the hours of the early morning, Swedish time, the East Indiaman ship Götheborg arrived in Guangzhou/Canton, broadcasted directly by the national Chinese television channel CCTV and Swedish TV4.

On board was the King and Queen, the Foreign Minister of The People's Republic of China, Li Zhaoxing, the Mayor of Guangzhou/Canton, Zhang Guangning, Swedish Vice Prime Minister, Bosse Ringholm (temporarily replacing the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jan Eliasson, who is at home to deal with the Lebanon crisis, but hopes to join in later), Under-Secretary of State, Lars-Olof Lindgren, the Ambassador of Sweden to The People's Republic of China, Börje Ljunggren, and the Swedish Consul-General to Guangzhou/Canton, Ulf Sörmark. On board were also a big host of other Swedish politicians, businessmen and sponsors from both countries.

A welcoming ceremony was held in the Nansha harbor. After that the city of Guangzhou/Canton held a luncheon, and then the King and Queen were to uncover a monument in the Huangpu (Whampoa) Historic Port. After that they sailed to the Southern Sea Temple in Huangpu via boat. A welcoming dinner is to be hosted by the city of Guangzhou/Canton and the province of Canton this evening.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, the King and Queen arrive in Beijing where they will stay 19-20 July. On the programme there is a meeting with the President of The People's Republic of China, a performance of Peking opera, a meeting with the Mayor of Beijing, a visit to the Olympic village and opening Ericsson's new Asia headquarters. The Queen will also visit a place with AIDS and HIV struck children. In the evening the King and Queen will attend a reception for the Swedish community in China at the Swedish Embassy.

On Friday, the King and Queen will go back to Guangzhou/Canton as they board "Götheborg" to sail to the harbour Tou Zui. In the evening a dinner will be hosted by Their Majesties.

Saturday's programme consists of seminars and business contacts with Swedish and Chinese companies.

First picture, by Jonas Ekströmer/Scanpix via Expressen.

 

[fanletizia]

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia are greeted by an official on arrival at Guangzhou harbour on board the Gotheborg, a full size replica of one of the ships that sailed in the 18th century between the Swedish city of Gothenburg and Guangzhou, 18 July 2006, in southern China's Guangdong province. The King and Queen will arrive in Beijing the following day to meet with top Chinese leaders

images from aap and anp

 

[purple_platinum]

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia stand on the replica of the Swedish merchant ship, Goteborg, docked at Nansha harbour in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong province July 18, 2006. Goteborg will stay in Guangzhou from July 18 to August 19, 2006, attending a month-long series of activities that cover areas of culture, economic, trade and tourism, China Daily reported.

from REUTERS/China Daily via yahoo

 

[xiaolong]

So happy to see them come to the province where I live.I have saw King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia on TV tonight.They look good.
The blue dress suits the queen very much,she is beautiful.

 

[GrandDuchess]

I love the Queen's outfit, it's one of her best. The blue suits her so well, and she's always so elegant in how she combines jewellery to go with the outfits. The hat is also fabulous! And now, two more pictures from the arrival!

GUANGZHOU, CHINA - JULY 18: (CHINA OUT) Swedish King Carl Gustaf XVI and Queen Silvia visit the replica ship Goteborg on July 18, 2006, in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province China. Goteborg will be staying in Guangzhou until August 19, attending a month-long series of activities that cover areas of culture, economic, trade and tourism.

Photos by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images

 

[fanletizia]

More images from getty

Queen Silvia of Sweden and King Carl Gustav of Sweden attend a welcoming ceremony at Nansha Ferry Terminal on July 18, 2006 in Guangzhou, Guangdong province of China.

 

[fanletizia]

More from getty, 1

 

[Larzen]

I love the Queen's outfit, it's one of her best. The blue suits her so well, and she's always so elegant in how she combines jewellery to go with the outfits. The hat is also fabulous! And now, two more pictures from the arrival

I have to agree, I think it is nice that Silvia always dresses for her position as Queen and not as an executive, wether she is at home or abroad. She also always takes extra care of the details, like the smal anchor brooch she is wearing at the ship. To me she is the best dressed of the Queen consorts, she knows what suits her, its never hip, flashy, modern or "look at me" but relativly timelsess, which is why she can still wear her dresses from the 80s and 90s and not look too dated (which cannot be said for Norwegian counterpart forinstance )

 

[Lena]

I have to agree, I think it is nice that Silvia always dresses for her position as Queen and not as an executive, wether she is at home or abroad. She also always takes extra care of the details, like the smal anchor brooch she is wearing at the ship. To me she is the best dressed of the Queen consorts, she knows what suits her, its never hip, flashy, modern or "look at me" but relativly timelsess, which is why she can still wear her dresses from the 80s and 90s and not look too dated (which cannot be said for Norwegian counterpart forinstance )

I have to agree as well Silvia has indeed perfected the Queen consort style...well in fact she had a very good hand for it from the very beginning as Queen.
The only thing, which is sometimes "brrrr", is the clothes she chooses for semi private/semi official functions. But her costumes for highly official functions and her gala dresses are mostly 1A.

 

[grevinnan]

I remember reading right after Carl Gustaf and Silvia's engagement that someone in his "inner circle" said she was not queen material. How wrong that person was. In the future someone will take her place as the elegant and perfect Queen consort - who may it be?

 

[royalgertjan]

Queen Silvia looks very good!! i love her style!

is there any stae banquet? at what date?

 

[Boris]

Thanks to everyone who posted, great pics from the King and Queen's arrival in Kanton!
I couldn't agree more with fellow posters: Queen Silvia always gets it right on official occasions, creating the best Queen Consort image of them all, never outdated fashionwise but never straight-from-the-runway either. She even seems to have gone shopping lately in order not to rival Queen Sonja as Queen Of Recycle... It's also fun to see the King going from grumpy to jovial and back on these pics - he usually does!
I really hope to see more soon. There are several dinners scheduled though I don't hold high hopes for a glittering tiara & decorations gala. Since the Royal Couple visit a republic, I'd say evening engagements are likely going to be somewhat subdued as they were on the recent state visit to Turkey as well.

 

[GrandDuchess]

Today Tuesday, the King and Queen arrived in Beijing where they will stay until tomorrow. The Mayor of Beijing held a welcoming luncheon, and after that they visited the city planning museum and the new "Capital Museum".

In the afternoon the Ambassador of Sweden to The People's Republic of China held a reception at the Swedish Embassy, and the King and Queen attended it to meet with the Swedish community of China.

The evening was concluded with a Gala evening at the Peking Opera, after which the King presented them with a photography of his grandfather, King Gustaf VI Adolf together with the big star Mei Lafang, taken when he visited the Peking Opera in 1926.

At the arrival yesterday, Aftonbladet reports that the King and Queen received black silk clothes as a present from their hosts.

Picture by Jonas Ekström/Scanpix via the Royal Court.

 

[Larzen]

From the "gala" at the theatre, the King looks like he lost a bet

scanpix picture

 

[rop81]

From the "gala" at the theatre, the King looks like he lost a bet

scanpix picture

the King looks hilarious at that picture! Queen Silvia looks stunning, but i´m still hoping we get to see atleast one gala with orders and tiaras (atleast one of the smaller ones)

 

[fanletizia]

China's President Hu Jintao (L) escorts Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf (C) as they review troops at a welcome ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing 20 July 2006

from anp and getty

 

[fanletizia]

More from getty

 

[GrandDuchess]

Today Thursday, the King and Queen were officially welcomed in Beijing by The President of The People’s Republic of China, Hu Jintao, in the Great Hall of the People.

The King opened Ericsson’s Asia headquarters in Beijing, the Ericsson Tower. In attendance were the Mayor of Beijing, Ericsson’s China director, the Swedish Ambassador and representatives from the Government and Swedish business life.

While the King did the above, Queen Silvia visited the Ditan Hospital, where the director presented the hospital’s work to her and focused especially on their HIV/Aids programme. The Queen held a speech and was presented with a gift. After that the Queen visited the Red Ribbon Foundation’s hospital for HIV/Aids patients, and she spoke to patients and volunteers.

In the evening, the Chinese hosts gave an official banquet, and then the King and Queen flew to the capital of the Guangdong province, Guangzhou. It is China’s biggest city and a two thousand year old port city that has played a crucial part in China’s trade with the world.

All pictures except the last one is from the opening of the new Ericsson headquarters.

The first two pictures are by Jonas Ekströmer/Scanpix via the Royal Court, pictures nr 3 & 4 are from China Daily, pictures nr 5 & 6 are from China Foto Press, and the last one if from the Olympic Village, by Jonas Ekströmer/Scanpix via the Royal Court.

 

[GrandDuchess]

Photo 1-2:"BEIJING, CHINA-JULY 20, 2006: The Swedish Queen Silvia receives the flower from children in the sun village on July 20, 2006, in Beijing, China.The Swedish Queen Silvia comes to care the children of the prisoners Beijing Sun Village Research Institute for Helping Special Childrenin at Shunyi district of Beijing suburb during her visit in China." Photos by Lu Weiwei/ChinaFotoPress

Photo 3: "Swedish Queen Silvia cuts the red ribbon during the opening ceremony of a health center at the Sun Village, a village set up for the children of jailed convicts, in Shunyi near Beijing Thursday, July 20, 2006. She attended a birthday party for 14 children who were having birthdays in July. Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia are on a six-day state visit to China." Photo by AP Photo/EyePress

 

[GrandDuchess]

On Friday, in Guangzhou, Their Majesties attended the opening of the exhibition “Treasures from the Swedish Trade with China” arrangd by the Gallery Astley together with the Guangzhous Museum of Art, and the King opened a Swedish art exhibition in the Guangzhous Art Museum.

After a lunch, the King and Queen boarded “Götheborg” for the final sail to the port of Zhou Tou Zui, were it was escorted by a djonk. The King held a short speech at the arrival.

On Friday evening, Their Majesties hosted a dinner at the White Swan Hotel with entertainment by Swedish artsts and a big fireworks display.

News clips from SVT:

17 July, the arrival in Guangzhou:
Media Player - http://svt.se/content/1/c6/62/58/80/1930kina.asx
RealPlayer - http://svt.se/content/1/c6/62/58/80/1930kina.ram

21 July, the arrival to the second port in Guangzhou:
Windows Media Player - http://svt.se/content/1/c6/62/72/62/1930kina.asx
RealPlayer - http://svt.se/content/1/c6/62/72/62/1930kina.ram

Picture from the dinner by Jonas Ekström/Scanpix via the Royal Court.

 

[GrandDuchess]

Yesterday Saturday, the Swedish State Visit to China was concluded in Guangzhou.

The last day was devoted to seminars about trade, development and trade connections between Sweden and China. The Queen visited Volvo’s showroom in Guangzhou.

In the evening, ten chefs from Guangzhou’s best restaurants cooked for a thousand guests at a dinner hosted by the municipality of Guangzhou, held in the Dongfang Hotel.

In the evening the King and Queen left China for Sweden by airplane. The King and Queen will now spend private holiday time at Solliden on Öland.


Picture by Jonas Ekströmer/Scanpix via the Royal Court.

 

[rop81]

I must say that the media coverage of this state visit has been very bad, there are almost no pictures at all. And it´s even stranger beacuse they have showed a little of it on the news, wich is very rare in sweden, and then they have reported that the media interest in china have been huge with over 50 journalists/tv crews cowering every step their majestys have taken. So why aren´t there any pics? probably it is the Swedish/European press that is uninterested (has vacation). Well lets hope that more pictures will find their way into this board. Don´t we have any member from China that can post som pictures and reports for us?

 

[GrandDuchess]

Some articles:


Chinese President, Swedish King agree to expand co-op
http://english.gov.cn/2006-07/20/content_341612.htm

Photo exhibition launched to show China-Sweden friendly exchanges
http://english.gov.cn/2006-07/20/content_340894.htm

Return of ancient ship to promote Sino-Swedish ties
http://www.gov.cn/misc/2006-07/19/content_340586.htm

Return of ancient ship to promote trade between China, Sweden
http://english.gov.cn/chinatoday/2006-07/23/content_343430.htm

China willing to enhance legislative cooperation with Sweden
http://www.gov.cn/misc/2006-01/20/content_165251.htm

Hu: China Hopes to Expand Cooperation with Sweden
http://www.china.org.cn/english/2006/Jul/175443.htm

 

[Boris]

Thanks so much GrandDuchess for your efforts to find more pics!
By now I'm wondering if the 'bad' turnout of pics & reporting about this state visit might have a political aspect too. Obviously Chinese photo agencies were very busy on the day of arrival, providing plenty of photographs which were picked up everywhere, by Getty, Scanpix etc. - and then, nothing.
As China is not exactly a shining example of democracy, with a media largely controlled by a government that's certainly not too fond of the idea of constitutional monarchy, could it be that somebody pulled the stops here, especially because TM's arrival caused a lot of public interest in China?
We get to see nothing but the most boring pics from the following four days which were actually packed with engagements for both the King and the Queen and, maybe most signifiant, there's not a single pic from the grand welcome banquet hosted by China's president last Thursday.
A bit of 'foul play' involved here for political reasons?

 

[rosalyn]

Why aren't there pictures of the royal couple in Beijing? did they go to the great wall again? thanks

 

[Skydragon]

I must say that the media coverage of this state visit has been very bad, there are almost no pictures at all.

You are right, the coverage of this visit has been abysmal, hardly any coverage or pictures, I am amazed.