2 expatriates awarded honorary citizenship

Shanghai honored two expatriates with honorary citizenship and 28 with the Magnolia Gold Award on Monday for their contributions to the city's development.

Simon Lichtenberg, founder and CEO of Trayton Group, and Severin Schwan, chairman of Roche Group, became the 51st "Honorary Citizens of Shanghai" since 1997.

One of Fudan University's first international students, Lichtenberg, from Denmark, came to Shanghai in 1987 to study Chinese language and culture. He founded Trayton Group in 1995, which designs, manufactures, and distributes upholstered furniture, after moving to Shanghai in 1993.

His founding chairmanship and later vice chairship helped merge the Danish Chamber of Commerce for all of China. He worked closely with Chinese government departments at various levels to share his wisdom and insights on China's development, from grassroots management to business environment optimization to foreigner-focused services.

The city awarded him the Magnolia Silver Award in 2006 and the Magnolia Gold Award in 2019 for his contributions.

In response to his letter in May, President Xi Jinping expressed his gratitude to him for promoting Sino-Danish cooperation, improving the foreign investment environment, and encouraged him to continue to serve as a bridge for China's high-level opening-up and Sino-European friendship and cooperation.

"Becoming an honorary citizen of Shanghai is an incredible honor for me," he said. "I am forever grateful to the Shanghai government and people for this humbling recognition. Only 51 people have received it. This gesture also shows Shanghai's high openness."

He said Shanghai was China's global gateway and a window to the world.

"During my 33 years living in Shanghai, I have always felt the welcoming, openness, and acceptance of Shanghai – from the business community, government, and, not least, their people," he said.

Lichtenberg saw Shanghai become a global leader in investment opportunities, business environment, technology, culture, education, innovation, social development, and management over the past 30 years.

He pledged to continue contributing to the city's economic and social development, mutual understanding, friendship, and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Schwan, the other new honorary citizen of Shanghai, is the chairman of the board of directors of Roche Group. He joined IBLAC in 2009 and became acting chairman in 2023 and chairman in 2024. He has led the council in its support for Shanghai's economic and social development and China's biopharmaceutical industry, strengthening Shanghai's ambition to become a global hub of innovation.

Magnolia Gold Award

The Magnolia Gold Award was presented to 28 expats from the US, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Australia, and Singapore.

Shanghai vice mayor Xie Dong said the recipients, who have lived and worked in Shanghai for many years, are witnesses to Shanghai's development and vital contributors. She said Shanghai is accelerating its transformation into a solid modern international capital with global influence and encouraged the award winners to work together to make Shanghai even better.

On behalf of all recipients, Bertrand Régnier, Ernst&Young Hua Ming LLP director, pledged to keep contributing to the city's development.

"The Gold Magnolia Award is not the end for us," he said. "We want to keep giving back to Shanghai because it has given us so much to make it a great place to live, work, study, and invest."

Shanghai began honoring expatriates with the Magnolia Silver Award in 1989 and added the gold award and honorary citizenship into the system in 1992 and 1997, respectively. So far, 1,907 awards and honorary titles have been given out.