Hon. Minister Judith Collins，

Hon. Mr. Andrew Little, leader of the Labour Party,

Hon. Phil Golf, Mayor of Auckland,

My dear Chinese compatriots and distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

Good evening！

First of all, please allow me to recognize some other respected members of parliament and distinguished guests present here tonight: Dr. Yang Jiang, Mr. Sam Lotu ingur, Ms. Melissa Lee, Mr. Jami-Lee Ross, Mr. Michael Wood, Mr. David Seymour, and Chairman Dr. Nigel Haworth, Hon. Sir Pita Sharples, Sir Bob Harvey and Ambassador Stephen Jacobi.

Thank you so much for joining us tonight, in celebration of the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year. The Spring Festival is the most important and most traditional festival in China. It symbolizes reunion, happiness and hope. On this joyful and auspicious occasion, I would like, on behalf of the Consulate General of China in Auckland, to extend our warmest greetings and best wishes to all the friends present here tonight, and through you to our Chinese compatriots, business people, students, media and friends in the consulate district and NZ for a very happy and prosperous New Year! Tonight we also have a distinguished delegation from CCTV present here. Welcome to Auckland and I hope through CCTV, China’s No. 1 TV station, to extend our best wishes to my motherland and people for a very happy and prosperous new year of rooster and of course hope you’ll have more coverage of Auckland and New Zealand in future.

2016 was an extraordinary year for the Chinese people. Under the strong leadership of Party Secretary Xi Jinping , we had a very good start to implement its 13th Five-Year Plan for economic and social development. Actively carrying out the new development concept of innovation, coordination, greenness, openness and sharing, China stepped up the pace of comprehensively building a better off society, deepening reform, law-based governance of the country and strict party discipline. China’s economic growth continues to be at the forefront of the world，contributing 33.2% to the world economic growth. A series of breakthroughs were made in major scientific and technological innovation. China successfully hosted the G20 Leaders' Summit in Hangzhou, sharing China’s thought with world leaders and proposed our ideas, and also presented to the world the magnificent, impressive and elegant image of China. One Belt One Road Initiative has achieved tangible results. We have also strived to maintain the overall stability and cooperation in our neighboring areas, and made significant contributions to safeguarding world peace and promoting global development.

2016 was a year of harvest for China-New Zealand relations. The two sides worked closely to implement the important consensus reached by both leaders of our two countries. Nowadays, China-New Zealand relations are in the best period of history with deepened political mutual trust and frequent high level visits and exchanges. The communications and cooperation between our two countries have been growing quickly in all areas, such as politics, law enforcement, military to military exchanges, economy, education, culture, tourism, science and technology and education etc.

The cooperation between China and the consular districts has been upgraded to a historic level. Thanks to the great support from the central and local governments of both countries, the One Belt One Road Initiative featuring connectivity, infrastructure building and people to people exchanges, has enjoyed early harvest in the consular districts. Last year, my colleagues and I received more than 70 ministerial and governor level delegations from China, which is unprecedented. We have witnessed a massive upsurge in the cooperation of aviation connectivity, tourism, cultural exchanges, education, primary industries and other fields. Direct flights between China’s major cities and Auckland doubled last year and exceed more than 150 per week, which was really hard to imagine a few years ago. Each airline brings benefit of 120 to 150 million US Dollars to Auckland according to Auckland airport authority. Meanwhile, the number of Chinese visitors to New Zealand has amounted more than four hundred thousand a year, still growing at a fast speed. It demonstrates once again that China's development and opening up is a strategic opportunity to New Zealand as well as the world

I am particularly pleased to see so many of our Chinese compatriots, Chinese companies, students and media present here tonight. Over the past year, our Chinese compatriots not only made great contribution to NZ economic and social development and diversity of culture, with their participation in NZ policies hitting a record high, but also have been acting as very important bridges in promotion of cooperation, mutual understanding and friendship between our two peoples. I would like to extend my most sincere appreciation to you all for your kind support to the work of my consulate.

Looking into the future, 2017 is a year of great significance for China. The Communist Party of China will convene its 19th national congress. In the new year, China will continue its structural reform We will continue to carry out open door policy, working together with other countries to achieve inclusive development and win-win cooperation of mutual benefits in the world. We will continue to push forward the One Belt One Road initiative. Just as stated by President Xi Jingping in Davos last week, we should seize every opportunity to jointly meet the challenges and chart the right course for economic globalization. China’s determination of maintaining world peace, promoting common development, building a cooperative partnership with outside world and supporting multilaterism will not change. China will continue to push forward the structural reform to achieve high quality development, and will continue to work together with the international community to steer the way for economic globalization and integration, and build a community of shared future for mankind. China will continue to contribute our wisdom and strength to the economic growth and global governance, and make greater contribution to the world peace, stability and prosperity.

2017 also marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-New Zealand diplomatic relationship. In the new year, we are faced with tremendous new opportunities in the development of our bilateral relationship. I am confident that with our joint efforts, our bilateral relation will achieve another great leap forward.

Ladies and gentlemen, my colleagues and I will continue to provide efficient and high-quality consular services for overseas Chinese in the consular districts. We will try our best to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and companies in New Zealand. It is hoped that overseas Chinese will be united closely as one, to play a constructive role in promoting bilateral cooperation and friendly exchanges.

Thank you so much. My best wishes to you all for a happy, healthy, prosperous, and lucky New Year!

Thank you!