Dr. Thomas Wagner Former Mayor of Zürich, Switzerland, Honorary President of the Swiss-Chinese Association

Dr. Wagner was born in 1943. He graduated at the University of Zürich, Switzerland, with a Doctor of Law and a Doctor of Medicine. Dr. Wagner worked as a doctor in the Department of Ophthalmology of Zürich University Hospital.

Dr. Wagner was elected mayor of Zurich, Switzerland in 1982. He served as mayor and deputy mayor of the Zurich Government for 24 years. He established a sister city relationship between Zurich and Kunming (the capital of Yunnan Province) in 1982. After that, he successfully led a large number of pilot projects in the cultural and environmental domain in Zurich and Kunming (such as water supply, sewage treatment, public transportation, historical building protection, regional planning, etc.).

Since 2002, he operates as consultant to promote bilateral relations and cooperation between Switzerland and China in business, culture and tourism (Swiss companies supported by him include Swiss KABA Holding AG, Swiss Datwyler Cable Solutions AG, ABB, Holcim AG, Firmenich AG, etc.). Dr. Wagner has traveled to all provinces and autonomous regions in China, and has visited China more than 150 times. Dr. Wagner served as a member of the Swiss Advisory Board for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and the Swiss Advisory Board for the Shanghai World Expo in 2010. He was also a co-director of the important environmental project "Beautiful Lake: Kunming Dianchi Lake Rehabilitation Project".

 

Dr. Wagner serves as a Board Member and as advisor of several companies and foundations in Switzerland: LEP Consulting AG (a spin-off company of ETH Zurich), SWISSWATER Ltd., Asia Green Real Estate Holding AG.

Dr. Wagner is:
-Honorary president of the Swiss-China Association (maintaining excellent relations with the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries CPAFFC)
-Honorary citizens of Kunming, Dalian, Nanchang, Jinan, Shandong and the Province of Guizhou

-He has also been appointed as a professor at Tongji University in Shanghai and a professor at Kunming University in China

-In March 2009, he was awarded the honorary title of “Friendship Ambassador by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC)

-In 2019, the Chinese Government honored Mr. Thomas Wagner with the “Friendship Award, the highest award for international friends