The Rt. Hon Sir Don McKinnon,

Hon. Minister Goldsmith,

His Excellency Ambassador Wang Lutong,

Hon. Phil Golf, Mayor of Auckland,

Hon Member of Parliament, Dr. Yang jiang,

Dr. Roderic Alley,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening!

It is my great honor and pleasure to be here tonight to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Rewi Alley’s arrival in China, and the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and New Zealand, together with my dear friends from all walks of life in NZ. Rewi Alley is a household name in China. But to me he was a special hero even when I was a Child. He was the very first foreigner I met when I was 4 years old at my hometown kindergarden of Hunan Province, which is located in the central part of China. At that time in China we could hardly see any foreigners, but he stayed there for a week at my hometown, took me here and there and made many photoshots of me and my little friends. His sunshine smile and gentle and warm hands have been imprinted in my mind and heart since then. I felt so lucky and have been so proud to have that opportunity to meet with Mr. Rewi Alley, a highly respected and loved man by the Chinese people because of his great contribution to China and the friendship not only between China and NZ, but also to the mutual understanding between the New China and rest of the world. His touching story of supporting China and Chinese people has always been engraved in my heart and very inspiring in my diplomatic career. I feel so blessed to be posted as the Chinese Consul General to Mr. Rewi Alley’s home country, which made one of my lifetime dreams come true.

Mr. Rewi Alley’s effort to China-NZ friendship has never been failed. New Zealand always stays in the forefront of western developed countries' relations with China, and has created many "firsts". Since the establishment of China-NZ diplomatic relations 45 years ago, bilateral relations have always enjoyed stable and healthy development, especially after President Xi Jinping’s successful visit to NZ in 2014 and China-NZ relationship upgraded to comprehensive strategic partnership. Last month, Premier Li Keqiang’s successful visit to New Zealand generated a strong push to the bilateral relationship. The two sides signed around 20 agreements related to trade, culture, education, science, customs, tourism, and international development, adding more “firsts” to the history of China-NZ relations, including an agreement on starting negotiation on upgrading FTA negotiation, a memorandum on strengthening cooperation on the One Belt One Road Initiative, and an agreement to set up a Chinese cultural centre in Auckland. At present, China-NZ relations feature with unprecedented breadth and depth of cooperation in various fields. China is NZ’s largest trade partner, with last year’s trade volume reaching 12 billion USD. China is NZ’s largest source of oversea students, with nearly 60 thousand Chinese students studying here. China is NZ’s second largest source of oversea tourists, with more than 400 thousand Chinese tourists coming here last year. The down to earth cooperation between Auckland consulate district with China has been growing very fast. In addition to the primary industry, our cooperation in the connectivity of air routes, maritime, financial and people-to-people fields have also been expanding quickly. Such numerous examples fully manifest the pioneering, special and demonstrative China-New Zealand relations, which bring tangible benefits not only to people of the two countries, but also to the Asia Pacific and the whole world.

In China we have a saying, “one may gain new insights through reviewing the past”. Tonight we are here to share our memories of Mr. Rewi Alley and celebrate the heavy fruits of China-NZ relationship, which meanwhile strengthens our confidence on the huge opportunities for furthering this relationship. We look forward to working shoulder by shoulder with our NZ friends in a number of ways to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between our two countries, and to strive for a better future of the ties between our two countries and two peoples. As the Chinese consul general, I am destined to be a strong promoter and supporter of better bilateral relationship, and will continue to work hard for strong and close ties between our two great nations and two peoples.

Thank you again to NZ China Council for hosting this wonder event!