(September 2, 2019, Westin Hotel)
Your Excellency, the Rt Hon Speaker of Croatian Parliament, Mr. Gordan Jandroković,
Your Excellency, the Rt Hon former President of Croatia, Mr. Ivo Josipović,
Your Excellency, the Rt Hon Deputy Speaker of Croatian Parliament, Mr. Furio Radin,
Your Excellency, Hon Minister of Health of Croatia, Mr. Milan Kujundzić,
Your Excellency, Hon State Secretary of Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia, Ms. Zdravka Bušić,
Your Excellency, Hon former Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia, Mr. Ante Simonić,
Respected State Secretaries and Assistant Ministers from Croatian Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Science and Education, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Culture,
Your Excellencies, Ambassadors of Diplomatic Corps,
Overseas Chinese compatriots,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you so much for joining us tonight. My warmest welcome to all the distinguished guests present here to the reception. I am very honoured to be the 9th ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the Republic of Croatia. Since the first day of my arrival at Zagreb more than 2 months ago, I have immediately been charmed by this great nation, deeply impressed by the warmth and friendliness of the Croatian people as well as the openness and inclusiveness of the society. At this very special moment, I wish to express my heartfelt appreciation to the Croatian government for the thoughtful arrangements for performing my duty and to the government and people of Croatia for your strong support to China and to the development of our bilateral relationship.
This is my first time being here, but this country is no stranger to me. It is a country with its beautiful, friendly and innovative people, enjoying a high reputation as the homeland of many important inventions, such as pens, ties, parachutes,alternators and many others. It is a country with its rich historical and cultural heritage, natural scenery and many outstanding tourist attractions, well-known as the shining pearl at Adriatic sea. It is a country with its famous products such as wine, diary, truffle, olive oil and etc. Last year, the red and white checkered-jersey team won the second place in the FIFA World Cup, stunning the whole world and fascinating so many Chinese fans in admiration. Croatia has always been a dreamed place for me and many of my diplomatic colleagues to live and work in. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be here to make contribution to China-Croatia relations.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Although China and Croatia are oceans apart by thousands of miles, the traditional friendship between our two countries and peoples has been profound and deep-rooted. Over the past 27 years since the establishment of the diplomatic ties, our bilateral relationship which is based on mutual respect,equality and mutual benefit has maintained strong momentum of development with political mutual trust greatly increased and co-operations extended to all areas. China and Croatia comprehensive cooperative partnership has witnessed a high-level and all-round growth, becoming a role model for friendly relations between countries with different sizes, national conditions and social systems. In recent years, our bilateral relations have made great progress, continuously achieved new breakthroughs, and entered one of the best periods in history. Today, I would like to share with you the following points:
First, both countries have enjoyed frequent high-level exchanges of visits and communications which have greatly promoted our bilateral relationship and co-operations. Last year, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković paid a successful official visit to China to attend the 1st China International Import Expo. This April, Premier Li Keqiang visited Croatia and attended the 8th Summit of Heads of Government of China and Central and Eastern European Countries. It has upgraded the relationship between China and Croatia as well as China-Central and Eastern European countries to a new stage of cooperation. Since then, Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security, and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs paid visits to Croatia respectively, which have enhanced collaboration in the areas of law enforcement and agriculture.
Second, the economic and trade cooperation between our two countries has been growing quickly. The bilateral trade was increased by 16.2% last year. The Pelješac Bridge being built by China Road and Bridge Corporation, marks a historic breakthrough in the cooperation between China and Croatia, and also creates a model of trilateral cooperation among China, Croatia and EU. This April, Huawei, a Chinese private enterprise and a leader in the construction of 5G, signed two memorandums of understanding with Croatian Central State Office for Digital Society Development. I am confident that China-Croatia cooperation will continue booming in the new economic fields such as digital economy, e-commerce, financial technology, and smart cities. We are also faced with tremendous opportunities for cooperation in areas like infrastructure, health industry, clean energy and many others.
Third, the people-to-people exchanges between our two countries are writing a new chapter. In 2018, the number of Chinese visitors to Croatia reached about 240,000 with an increase of more than 40%, this year it is estimated to be even more. Croatia has become one of the most popular destinations in Central and Eastern Europe for Chinese tourists. This year is the Year of Culture and Tourism between China and Croatia. The two countries have hosted a serious of cultural and tourist exchange activities. I firmly believe that enhancing mutual understanding between the two peoples is the basis for building a strong friendship and relationship between our two countries.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Today, at the time of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, we are also holding an exhibition of the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up. Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, China has created a miracle of economic and social development. China has become the world's second largest economy, the largest manufacturer, the largest trader of goods, the second largest consumer of goods, likely to be the No.1 consumer very soon along with the increase of Chinese middle class reaching 400 million. China also accounts for 70% of the world poverty reduction.Now China has entered into a period of structural reform, pushing forward our economy to high quality development. Our economy has continued stable and sound performance, with its GDP growing within a proper range of more than 6% for years running. China's reform and opening up has not only transformed China, but also benefited the whole world. For many years, China has contributed more than 30% to the world economic growth.
"Our reform will never stop, and our doors will only open ever wider to the outside world." While facing the wave against economic globalization, Chinas commitment to reform and opening up has contributed the most precious confidence and expectations to the world. At the G20 Summit in Osaka held this June, Chinese President Xi Jinping profoundly expounded China's stance and proposition on economic globalization, and once again expressed his willingness to stand with the international community to guide economic globalization in the right direction. At the Summer Davos Forum held this July, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang once again sent the world a "Chinese voice" that insists on openness and inclusiveness, cooperation and mutual benefit, and promotes the lasting prosperity of the world economy. Since the beginning of this year, China has successively introduced the Foreign Investment Law, reduced the negative list of foreign investment access in the national and free trade pilot zones. China will further bring down our overall tariff level, strive to remove non-tariff trade barriers, and slash institutional costs of imports. We will ensure the success of the Second China International Import Expo which will be held in shanghai this November. We will introduce a punitive compensation mechanism for intellectual property infringement cases and make the relevant civil and criminal laws more stringent to deliver better IP protection. Greater efforts will be made to advance trade talks like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), China-EU Investment Agreement and China-Japan-ROK Free Trade Agreement, etc.
Ladies and gentlemen,
More than 700 years ago, Marco Polo opened the European eyes towards the Orientals through the book "Marco Polo's Travels", and opened a splendid chapter of the exchange of ideas between the East and the West. Today, more than 700 years later, the trend of economic globalization will not be hindered. The intensity of China's reform and opening up will not stagnate. China will continue to work in the spirit of peaceful co-existence and win-win cooperation with all other countries including Croatia to build a community with a shared future for mankind featuring long-lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, open and inclusiveness as well clean and beautiful world.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Reform and opening up have also promoted the development of China-Croatia relations. All of us are witnesses, beneficiaries and builders of the continuous development of China-Croatia relations. A Croatian saying states that "we will be stronger when we are together". Let's make joint efforts to write a new chapter of more brilliant relationship between China and Croatia!
Finally, I propose a toast
To the prosperity of China and Croatia,
To the happiness and well-being of our two peoples,
To the continuous development of China-Croatia comprehensive cooperative partnership,
To the good health of the guests present here,
Cheers!