Visitors gather in front of the Karl Marx statue in Trier, Germany, on May 5, 2018. A China-donated statue of German philosopher Karl Marx was unveiled on Saturday in his birth town on the 200th anniversary of his birth. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)
BRUSSELS, May 5 (Xinhua) -- People in European cities paid homage to Karl Marx on Saturday, marking the 200th anniversary of the great thinker's birth.
Marx was born in the German city of Trier on May 5, 1818. He died in London in 1883.
GERMANY: UNVEILING OF STATUE
A China-donated statue of Marx was unveiled on Saturday in Trier to commemorate the late bushy-bearded local.
The statue's height, 5.5 meters (18 feet), was designed in accordance with his birthday -- May 5, its creator Wu Weishan said.
Weighing 2.3 ton, the bronze figure was mounted atop a pedestal in front of a former Marx family home.
Marx, the son of a Jewish lawyer, spent 17 years in Trier, before becoming one of the most influential thinkers in the world.
Marx's ideas are of great value to the world, and in particular had far-reaching influence on China," Guo Weimin, deputy director of the State Council Information Office of China, said in a speech to mark the unveiling of the statue.
Malu Dreyer, the governor of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in which Trier is located, called the statue from China "a pillar and a bridge for our partnership".
BRITAIN: INT'L CONFERENCE
In London, the Marx Memorial Library organized an international conference celebrating Marx's work and exploring the significance of Marxism in the world today.
Speakers at the conference include John McDonnell, British Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. His speech subject is Marxism as a force for change today.
Ben Fine, an economics professor at School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London, told Xinhua at the margin of the conference that what Marx put forward over 100 years ago still has far-reaching impact.
For westerners, Marx's analysis of capitalism is worth studying, the professor said, underlining that it's of great significance to stage the conference in London, where Marx was laid rest after living for many years.
Meirian Jump, Marx Memorial Library archivist, speaks to begin proceedings during the Marx 200 Conference, organized by the Marx Memorial Library on the bicentenary of Karl Marx's birth, at SOAS university in London, Britain, on May 5, 2018. (Xinhua/Tim Ireland)
BELGIUM: SEMINARS ON MARX
In Brussels, the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and the Belgium-China Association Saturday jointly organized a seminar marking the 200th anniversary of Marx's birth.
The seminar, circling around the topic of Marxism in the world and in particular in China, brought together about 20 experts and scholars who studied Marxism in Belgium, France, Switzerland, and China.
Hans Van Duysen, chairman of the Belgium-China Association, pointed out that despite the world entering a new modern era, Marxism is not out of date and the West must reflect on its own crises.
"China has opened up a development model that is different from the West, and has found a suitable development path for itself which has led to extraordinary achievements," said Duysen.
"I believe that the Chinese model will have the resources to help the world overcome possible future crises," he added.
Separately, the Belgian Workers' Party (PTB) held a multinational event in downtown Brussels on Saturday night.
With the attendance of hundreds of party members and people who are interested in Marxism, the event aimed to "bring back Marx in the news, to bring back him into the spirits of the people," David Pestieau, vice president of the PTB, told Xinhua.
"This evening we attributed to Marx. So we have speakers from Ireland, Germany, France and Belgium...We want to bring the importance and also the diversity of the ideas of Marx (to the audience)," he added.
Photo taken on May 3, 2018 shows the entrance of the exhibition "Karl Marx 1818-1883. Life. Work. Time." in the City Museum Simeonstift Trier in Trier, Germany. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)
FINLAND: READING MARX'S WORK
In the Finnish city of Pori, works of Karl Marx were read aloud at the market square.
Juha-Pekka Vaisanen, chairman of Finnish Communist Party, told the shoppers that neoliberal economic policies have decisively contributed to the "resurrection" of Marx as a popular phenomenon.
Vaisanen has been touring Finland this spring giving public readings of Karl Marx.
In his address in Pori, Vaisanen referred to Chinese leader's suggestion that reading of Marx could become a habit.
Vaisanen underlined that Marx is not only relevant for the economists, but for everyone at a time "when the robots may snatch your job", and "the robots do not need social security".
Finnish Communist Party has recently published again in Finnish language parts of Das Kapital, the masterpiece of Marx.
"Students told us that the books were in libraries but sold out in stores for decades," Vaisanen said.
