Hon Minister Nikki Kaye,
My dear friends from Guangzhou, the sister city of Auckland,
Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Good evening!
I am delighted to be here tonight to attend this beautiful gala dinner. First of all I would like to extend my warm welcome to all the delegation members led by Director General Feng of Guangzhou Overseas Chinese Affairs Office. What a treat tonight, the top master chefs of Guangzhou and local top master chefs from SkyCity in Auckland are together preparing a feast for us tonight and will present the special combination of Chinese and western food. We are so fortunate to have the opportunity to taste the best cuisines in the world, and I believe we will be able to experience and witness the Chinese chopsticks struggling with New Zealand knife and fork. This event is not only a simple culinary art exchange, but also a good example of extensiveness and depth of fast growing ties and friendship between these two sister cities and a vivid reflection of the deep and comprehensive communication and cooperation between our two countries.
At this special occasion, I would like to express my appreciation to Chinese New Settlers Services Trust for organizing this meaningful event and for their support to promote cultural exchanges between our two countries, particularly for assisting young kiwi friends to travel in China and participate in the cultural exchange programs. I also would like to express my appreciation to all the friends present here tonight and in NZ for your great support to the development of China and China NZ relations.
China and New Zealand relationship has maintained in a very good momentum of development. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between our two countries . Over the past 45 years, our bilateral relationship has been growing quickly with strengthened political trust and enhanced co-operations in all areas. China becomes New Zealand's largest trading partner, the largest source of international students and second largest source of tourists. Now China and NZ are working together to build One Belt One Road . One Belt One Road means a road of connectivity of policy, trade, financing, infrastructure and people to people exchanges. I am very pleased to see the people to people exchange has developed very fast in my consulate district. Numerous cultural activities have been held in Auckland each year. The second Chinese cultural center will be established in Auckland soon, which makes New Zealand the first country to have two Chinese cultural centers in the whole world.
Ladies and gentlemen, as a Chinese proverb states, "people regard food as their prime want". For thousand of years, the Chinese people have created an extensive and profound food culture. The Chinese cuisine with eye-catching colors, irresistible fragrance and rich taste is not only about delicious eating, but also becomes an important part of the Chinese culture. Here again I would like to express my thanks to the Guangzhou delegation for bringing the Chinese food culture to Auckland and to New Zealand.
I wish this event a great success and wish all of you have a wonderful time.
Thank you!
