Your Excellency The Most Hon. Cornelius Smith, Governor-General of The Bahamas,
The Hon. Peter Turnquest, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance,
His Lordship The Hon. Brain M. Moree, Chief Justice
The Honorable Cabinet Ministers,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear friends,
Good Evening!
Today, we gather here to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China. Let me begin by extending to all of you my warmest welcome.
This year marks the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. During the past 70 years, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, China has undergone enormous changes and achieved brilliant progresses as witnessed by the whole world. The Chinese nation has ushered in a great leap forward from standing up and getting rich to becoming strong, and has embarked on a new journey of great rejuvenation.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the past 70 years, China's has achieved remarkable economic development. When the People's Republic of China was founded, the industry and agriculture were far less developed, and the comprehensive national power was weak. The 70-year struggle of China has created a great miracle of economic development, with the GDP of China reaching 13.7 trillion US Dollars in 2018, ranking the second in the world, and per capita GDP beyond 9,000 US Dollars. China has become the world's largest manufacturer, merchandise trader, and holder of foreign exchange reserves.
In the past 70 years, Chinese people's livelihood has been improved remarkably. Before the founding of the PRC, people's lives were extremely difficult, and more than 80% people were illiterate. Now, China is moving towards full coverage of high school education, and the gross enrollment rate of college education has reached 48.1%. China has become the first developing country to achieve UN's poverty reduction goals, and has established the world's largest social security system covering the biggest number of beneficiaries.
In the past 70 years, China's scientific and technological progress has been advancing with each passing day. Synthetic bovine insulin, space technology, super hybrid rice, high-performance computer and other engineering and technical achievements have provided strong support for China's economic and social development. The "Chang'e IV" detector successfully landed on the back side of the moon, and Beidou navigation system began to provide global basic navigation services. China's high-speed railway is well known to the world. In 2018, the world's longest sea-crossing bridge, the 55-kilometer-long Hong Kong-Zhuhai -Macao Bridge, was officially opened to traffic.
In the past 70 years, China's opening up has continued to expand. Since the reform and opening up, China has actively implemented an opening up strategy of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, from a large-scale "bringing in" to a big step of "going out", from joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) to building the "Belt and Road", the width and depth of opening up has significantly expanded. In 2018, China's total foreign trade of goods reached 4.6 trillion US dollars, ranking first in the world for two consecutive years. The First China International Import Expo was successfully held in 2018, demonstrating China's strong confidence in opening up to the outside world.
In the past 70 years, China has seen remarkable institutional innovation. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people has explored and established a socialist system with Chinese characteristics suited to China's national conditions, the People's Congress System, the multi-party cooperation and political consultation system under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the socialist market economy system. China has also established the "one country, two systems", which has opened up a new road to realize the reunification of the motherland by peaceful means. These institutional innovations have made a unique contribution to the institutional development of human civilization.
Looking into the future, China still has a lot of development tasks, but the prospects are bright. During the first half of 2019, China's overall economy has been generally stable, maintaining a stable and positive trend, and major economic indicators are in line with expectations. The growth rate of GDP was 6.3%, and the economic structure has been continuously optimized. With the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the political advantage of mobilizing available resources for major goals, a solid material and technical foundation accumulated since the reform and opening up, the Chinese government is fully capable of and confident in dealing with various risks and challenges and maintaining sustained and stable economic development.
Economic globalization is a universal consensus of the international community and an irresistible historical trend. At present, free trade and the multilateral trading mechanism are facing unprecedented challenges. China always holds the viewpoint that trade disputes should be resolved through dialogue and negotiation. It has been proved by history that trade wars will not only result in both losses, but also have severe negative effects on the world economy. China will unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development, adhere to the opening up strategy featured by mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, firmly uphold the multilateral trading mechanism, thus to make further contributions to economic globalization and world economic development.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Bahamas is an important country in the Caribbean region and an important partner of China. Over the past 22 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the political mutual trust has been strengthened, economic and trade cooperation has been expanded, and people-to-people exchanges has been deepened. China appreciates that The Bahamas has always adhered to the One-China Principle. China and The Bahamas supports each other and cooperates closely on international and regional affairs. Such cooperation has contributed to the steady development of bilateral relations. Last week, a delegation from the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, headed by Vice-Chairman Dr. Cai Dafeng, visited The Bahamas. Dr. Cai had very good discussions with The Hon. Halson Moultrie, Speaker of the House of Assemby and paid a courtesy call on the Hon. Peter Turnquest, Deputy Prime Minister of The Bahamas. Last November, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Darren Henfield led a delegation to attend the first China International Import Expo. These events have shown the willingness of both parties to strengthen the bilateral exchanges and cooperation, and will surely introduce new momentum to the development of our bilateral relations.
Currently, the BahaMar Resort is playing a positive role in creating employment and promoting the development of tourism industry in The Bahamas. The Pointe project is moving toward completion smoothly. Recently, the two sides have signed two important agreements, one is the Protocol on the Export of Lobster from The Bahamas to China and the other is the Agreement Relating to Civil Air Transport. This year, 14 Bahamian students have been awarded full scholarship from the Chinese Government to advance their education in China, and a series of short-term training programs are available for Bahamian applicants. I wish all the participants could equip themselves better with knowledge and skills, and in the future make their contribution to the development of The Bahamas, as well as to the China-Bahamas friendly relations.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
At the Beginning of this month, The Bahamas suffered the strongest Hurricane in history, which had caused severe life and property losses in Grand Bahama and Great Abaco. A friend in need is a friend indeed. The Chinese Government and people care about the situation of The Bahamas very much. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi sent a message of condolences to the Honorable Foreign Minister Darren Henfield. The Chinese Embassy lent a helping hand at its first opportunity by donating 20,000 US dollars worth of emergency relief supplies to the NEMA. After that, the Chinese Government and the Red Cross Society of China have provided 500,000 US dollars and 100,000 US dollars respectively in cash to support the Bahamian government's disaster relief efforts. It is worth noting that the Chinese companies and Chinese community and in The Bahamas also have provided assistance in cash and materials to support the disaster relief efforts. The Chinese Embassy will continue to mobilize available resources to support disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction. We believe that the government of The Bahamas and people will able to overcome difficulties and help the affected areas rebuild their homes.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
China will always be a sincere friend of The Bahamas. We are ready to work together with the government and the people of The Bahamas to further strengthen our bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields, deepen our friendship, and further enhance the welfare of our two peoples. Let's work hand in hand to create a better future for our two countries.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Now, may I propose a toast,
To the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China,
To the continuous development of China-Bahamas relations,
To the everlasting friendship between our two peoples,
To the health of all guests present tonight,
Cheers!