Hon Tim Groser, Trade Minister, Hon Pansy Wong, Ethnic and Women's Affairs Minister, Mr. Michael Lee, Chairman of ARC, Mr. Raymond Huo, Member of Parliament,

Dear friends,ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening, and warm welcome to you all.

I am greatly honored by the presence here of so many distinguished guests and friends, and colleagues from the diplomatic corp. I want to thank you sincerely for joining us in the celebration of the 61st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Over the past year, we have seen China emerge as one of the first countries to achieve an economic rebound and maintain steady and relatively fast economic development under extremely difficult and complex circumstances. China achieved 9.1% growth in 2009 and 11.1% in the first half of this year. China has now become the second-largest economy in the world. While we are proud of the achievements and progress in China, we are also soberly aware of the challenges we face with. China is still a developing country with a large population, weak economic foundation, and uneven development. Our per capita GDP is lagging behind more than 100 countries in the world and we have a long way to go.

The Shanghai World Expo is a big event in China this year, attended by visitors of over 57 million so far. The Expo provides a wonderful opportunity for the Chinese people to know the world better, and also for the people of the world to know China better. It is an excellent venue through which we can earnestly learn from the advanced experiences of other countries in the world. We have unswervingly chosen the road of peaceful development and we are committed to cooperation and seeking common prosperity with the countries of the world.

Relations across the Taiwan Straits are showing a good momentum of peaceful development. Recently, the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) was signed by the mainland and Taiwan, which opened a new chapter of economic cooperation between the two sides. Large scale exchange of visits is taking shape, over 6 million visitors are expected to cross the Taiwan Strait this year.

Now on Sino-New Zealand relationship, our two countries have been enjoying extensive exchanges and cooperation in the political, trade and economic, cultural, and educational fields. High-level visits have been taking place. Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping paid an official visit to New Zealand in June, and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key visited China in July. He was also in Shanghai to open the New Zealand Pavilion Day. I was one of the visitors attracted to the beautiful New Zealand pavilion. With millions of visitors attending the Expo, I am sure more visitors will be attracted to the friendly and beautiful land of "long white cloud". Already, over 120,000 tourists from China came to visit here last year, and over 40,000 Chinese students are now studying in New Zealand. The implementation of the Free Trade Agreement between our two countries went quite well. Our bilateral trade volume in 2009 reached nearly 10 billion New Zealand dollars, with a year-on-year increase of 7.9%, taking up more than 12% of New Zealand's foreign trade. The deepening of our bilateral relationship has the strong support by the business communities. I would like to mention the example of fine cooperation between Chinese Haier and Fisher and Paykel, and the recent signing of wine production cooperation agreement between Zhangyu and Kelly.

I would also like to stress that the healthy development of Sino-New Zealand relationship cannot maintain its momentum without the support by the organizations like New Zealand-China Friendship Society.

The Chinese Communities here also play an important role. They have made valuable contribution to the social and economic development here, and to the diversity of local culture. I am much impressed by their generous donation to the people in need like the recent earthquake victims in south island and in China. They are an important bridge in strengthening friendship and cooperation between China and New Zealand.

We sincerely hope that our bilateral relationship will further expand, and would like to make joint efforts with our Kiwi friends to work for the common prosperity and welfare for our two peoples.

Thank you.

Friends, may I propose a toast

To the friendship between the people of China and New Zealand,

And to the health and well being of every one here tonight,

Cheers.