Ski jump architect Hans-Martin Renn + Hidebound power sector

“The Winter Games are a huge publicity event for China,” says Hans-Martin Renn. The German architect helped design a ski jump in the host city of Zhangjiakou – a daring undertaking at times, as he told Marcel Grzanna in today’s interview. Before the planning conferences could even begin, not only phones had to be turned over, but even all ownership rights to the submitted designs.

However, Renn was well-prepared for the drinking spree with his Chinese business partners. He had poured down “all the water and soup on the table between toasts”. It paid off: In the end, his company’s concept won the bid. Now the ski jump stands tall in the mountains northwest of Beijing and will be the venue for the Winter Games on February 3.

As it is well known, the snow around the ski jump came from snow cannons, which in turn run on electricity. A most unfortunate fact, given the high priority placed on climate protection and air pollution control. Most of China’s power is still generated from coal, after all. It is fired by large and sluggish state-owned companies, still favored by the government in spite of crises and bottlenecks. If China wants to achieve its climate goals, this situation has to be broken up, writes Christiane Kuehl. A good start would be to effectively stop the planned construction of a whole series of new coal-fired power plants.

Meanwhile, China.Table has learned from well-informed circles in the capital who the new German ambassador to Beijing will be. The Foreign Ministry has chosen Miguel Berger. The high-ranking diplomat lost his position as Secretary of State in the party-political castling that followed the election. From the looks of it, he will be heading to the Far East – taking up a challenging post that requires a great deal of finesse.

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Fabian Peltsch