Mr. Phil Goff, Mayor of Auckland,

National Party President Mr. Peter Goodfellow,

Labour Party President Mr. Nigel Haworth,

Distinguished members of New Zealand Parliament,

Hon. Sir Pita Sharples, Former Minister of Maori Affairs,

Mr. George Hawkins, Former Minister of Police,

Mr. Stephen Jacobi, Executive Director of the New Zealand China Council,

Respected Mayors and Councillors, Members of the Diplomatic Corps,

Distinguished Guests, Dear Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening!

Tonight we gather here to celebrate the 68th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. First of all, please allow me on behalf of the Chinese Consulate General in Auckland, to extend our warmest welcome to all the guests present here tonight. China’s National Day this year happens to be almost at the same time with Moon Festival. At this auspicious moment, I would like to express my festival greetings to the guests present here tonight and through you to all the friends including our Chinese compatriots, students and business people in the consulate district! I also want to take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation to all the friends and Chinese compatriots in New Zealand for your support to the development of China and the friendship and cooperation between China and New Zealand.

Over the past six decades since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, profound changes have taken place. Once a poor nation scarred by foreign aggression and civil war, has stood up, getting rich and strong, and ranked No 2 economy in the world with its GDP of 11 trillion US dollars. People’s living standard has been greatly improved with social progress and international prestige tremendously increased.

For the past five years since the 18th CPC National congress, we have witnessed a monumental journey for China. Under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China has made remarkable achievements at all fronts. Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new historic stage. Looking ahead, China’s continuous progress will bring the world great benefit in peace, development and governance.

China is an anchor for world peace. Sustainable stability of a country with over 1.3 billion people itself is an enormous contribution to the world peace. China is a staunch defender of international security and an active promoter of global peace. The development of China in recent years shows that it is not a threat to anyone, but brings tangible benefits and a broader market to the Asia-Pacific region and the world. Aggression is never in the gene of Chinese, and exercise colonization and plundering others can nowhere be found in China’s track record. Just as President Xi Jinping solemnly pledged, no matter how advanced China has become, it will never seek hegemony, expansion and sphere of influence. China will continue to walk on the road of peaceful development, advocating to build a community of shared future for mankind and seeking to develop friendly relations with other countries on the basis of equality and mutual respect.

China is a booster of multilateralism. Firmly sticking to the purposes and principles enshrined in the UN charter, China firmly defends sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of countries, firmly defends the core role of UN in the international affairs. No matter how the international situation will change, China will continue to promote multilateralism.

China is a drive force for world economic prosperity. Over the past five years, China’s economy has maintained to grow at 7.2%, contributing more than 30% to the world economic growth. In May this year, the international cooperation forum on One Belt and One Road which was successfully held in Beijing has achieved 270 deliverables. China aims to build One Belt One Road into a road of connectivity of policy, trade, financing, infrastructure and people to people, a road of peace, prosperity, openness, innovation which connects different civilizations, and a road to tap the economic comparative advantages of our partners to achieve win-win results.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The 19th CPC National Congress will convene on 18th October in Beijing. This very important meeting will draw out guidelines and policies to promote economic, political, cultural, social and ecological progress, as well as to advance coordinated development of the “Four Comprehensives” which means building a better–off society, deepening-reform, law-based governance of the country and exercise of Party’s strict governance in every respect. It will set a grand blueprint for China’s future development and is of far-reaching historical significance. Right now, all the preparatory work for the congress is going smoothly. We expect a full success of the congress to lead China forward to a brighter future, steer the China dream of national rejuvenation onto a new journey and bring more opportunities to the whole world.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This year is a special year for China New Zealand relationship. It marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relationship between our two countries. Over the past 45 years, bilateral relations have enjoyed stable and healthy development, especially after President Xi Jinping’s successful visit to New Zealand in 2014, China-New Zealand comprehensive strategic partnership has been greatly strengthened with deepened political mutual trust and enhanced co-operations at all areas. 2017 is a year of harvest. In March, Premier Li Keqiang’s visit generated a strong push to the bilateral relationship, with around 20 agreements signed related to trade, culture, education, science, customs, tourism and international development. More “firsts” were added to the history of China-New Zealand relations, including an agreement on starting negotiation on upgrading FTA, a memorandum on strengthening cooperation on One Belt One Road, and an agreement to set up a Chinese cultural centre in Auckland. At present, China maintains to be New Zealand’s largest trading partner, largest source of international students, and second largest source of overseas tourists.

In particular, I would like to stress that the development and prosperity of China’s relations with New Zealand are important opportunities for the two countries. The economy of both China and New Zealand is highly complimentary with each other. China’s development concept, featuring innovation, coordination, greenness, openness and shared development is highly compatible to New Zealand’s concept of development. New Zealand’s economy remains in a good shape, mainly driven by fast growing export and tourists, in which China plays a very important role. The fast development of China will create a huge space for bilateral cooperation in various fields, and New Zealand will be a great beneficiary from it.

In our consular district in Auckland, the down to earth cooperation with China has been growing very fast and upgraded to a historic level. Thanks to the great support from the central and local governments of both countries, the One Belt One Road construction has yielded early harvest in the consular districts. We have witnessed a massive upsurge in the cooperation of aviation connectivity, tourism, cultural exchanges, education, primary industries and other fields. Direct flights back and forth between China’s major cities and Auckland exceed more than 150 per week, which was really hard to imagine a few years ago. Each flight brings 130-160 million US dollars benefit to Auckland and New Zealand per year. I am confident Auckland will become not only an important regional gate way to the Pacific Islands, but also an important international hub. Of course, China benefits as well. Such as the people in Shanghai are able to drink the fresh milk from Waikato within 24 hours after the cow is milked. More than 400,000 Chinese visitors came here to enjoy the unique beauty of New Zealand last year.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The above mentioned achievements cannot be accomplished without the joint efforts of Chinese compatriots here in New Zealand. They have not only made great contribution to the economic and social development as well as to the diversity of culture of New Zealand, but also have served as important bridges in promotion of mutual understanding, friendship and economic cooperation between our two countries and two peoples. It is my sincere hope that all the Chinese compatriots will stay in harmony with each other and continue to make more contributions to the China-New Zealand relations.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This year also marks the 90th anniversary of Mr. Rewi Alley’s arrival in China as well as the 120th anniversary of his birthday. Rewi Alley is a household name in China and great friend of the Chinese people who supported China in anti-Japanese aggression, supported New China and made great contribution to the promotion of relations between China and New Zealand as well as the rest of the world. To me he was a special hero. I had the honor to meet him in my hometown at my very early age, and have been inspired by his great passion for China-New Zealand friendship. I’m also lucky to be posted as China’s Consul General to Auckland, which made one of my life dreams come true, because I always dreamed that I could do something for Mr. Rewi Alley’s home country, New Zealand. Now as the Chinese consul general, I can do a lot to promote the relationship between our two great nations and two great peoples. Mr. Rewi Alley must be so proud to see the relations between China and New Zealand keep furthering and the friendship between the two peoples deepened. My colleagues and I will continue to do our very best to accomplish our glorious mission of continuously pushing forward the cooperation and friendship between the two countries and peoples. We strongly believe that a good and strong relationship between our two countries is not only in the interest of both countries and peoples, but also conducive to Asia -Pacific as well as the whole world. Let us work together to jointly promote China-New Zealand relations to a new height!

Now, please join me in a toast:

To China’s better future,

To New Zealand’s better future,

To China-New Zealand relations,

To the health and success of all the friends present tonight,

Cheers!