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Remarks by Ambassador Xu Erwen at the Opening Ceremony of Porcelain's Journey along the Silk Road- Chinese Porcelain Culture Exhibition
2019-10-14 15:13

Croatia Assistant Minister of Culture, Mr. Manenica,

Prefect Longin,

Deputy Mayor Surać,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening. Dobra večer.

It gives me great pleasure to be here tonight to attend the opening ceremony of Porcelain’s Journey along the Silk Road- Chinese Porcelain Culture Exhibition. I’m very pleased that this exhibition is held in Zadar, a city full of history, full of cultural heritage, and full of friendship toward China and the Chinese people. First of all, I wish to extend my best wishes and warmest greetings to both Zadar Ancient Glass Museum and Jingdezhen China Ceramics Museum for your strenuous efforts and hard work to make this exhibition possible, and thank Croatia Ministry of Culture, Zadar County and Zadar City for your great support to this exhibition. I would also like to thank Croatia national TV station and Zadar’s media to report this exhibition. Meanwhile, I want to extend my warm welcome to the delegation members from Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, China and all the friends present here today.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This exhibition is a major event for the cultural exchange between China and Croatia this year and a very important part of the Year of Culture and Tourism between China and Croatia which was launched by Croatian Prime Minister Plenkovic and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang when he paid his successful official visit to Croatia and attended the 8th Summit of Heads of Governments of China and Central and Eastern European Countries this April. Since the beginning of this year, a series of cultural and tourist activities and events have been held by both sides in both countries. Over the past two months, I attended several cultural events in Croatia together with the Minister and Assistant Minister of Croatia Ministry of Culture, such as the Chinese water ink painting exhibition at Dubrovnik Modern Art Museum and Chinese martial dance in Zagreb Youth Theater which were all well received by Croatia audience. Not long ago, a Croatia folk dance troupe had a touring performance in China, presenting Croatia folk arts to the Chinese people which received warm welcome. I am confident that today’s exhibition will enrich the activities of the Year of Culture and Tourism between China and Croatia.

This exhibition reflects the fast growing comprehensive cooperative partnership between our two countries. At present, China-Croatia relations are in the “diamond” period of development. The two leaders have kept close contacts, political mutual trust have been greatly strengthened and pragmatic cooperation have extended to all areas. Many tangible results have been achieved by our cooperation which have brought great benefits to both peoples and both countries. Encouraged by the cooperation on building the Peljesac Bridge, China’s investment in Croatia is increasing. We are faced with more opportunities in our cooperation in areas of infrastructure, clean energy, digital economy, tourist industry and primary industry, etc. Croatia high-quality agricultural products (such as dairy products, wine, olive oil, truffle and so on so forth) are getting more and more popular in Chinese market. The number of Chinese tourists to Croatia has reached a new height this year. In addition to the rapid development of political and economic relations, the cultural exchanges between our two countries are also blooming. This porcelain exhibition puts another addition to the rapid development of our two countries’ cultural ties.

This exhibition is also an important element of the construction of One Belt One Road between our two countries. One Belt One Road, the modern version of ancient silk road is a road of connectivity of policy, infrastructure, trade, finance and people to people based on joint consultation, joint contribution and shared development. China is the homeland of porcelain. Since the eleventh century, China began exporting porcelain to Europe. At that time, the “Maritime Silk Road” for transporting porcelain was called the “Porcelain Road”. Porcelain trade played a unique role in promotion of mutual understanding and friendship between peoples along the Belt and Road including Croatia.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The English vocabulary CHINA- means both porcelain and my country’s name. so “porcelain” has become a symbol and synonym of China in the world. I believe through this exhibition, Croatian friends will have a better understanding of the long history of Chinese ceramics and porcelain, particularly the porcelain from Jingdezhen, known as the world “porcelain capital” in Chinese Ming Dynasty, especially famous for producing blue-and-white porcelain.

Ceramics and porcelain are not only the daily household wares of Chinese families, but also the artifacts in which the Chinese spirit is embedded as well as the oriental thoughts and philosophies are pinned. Chinese porcelain reflects the oriental spiritual temperament and aesthetic taste. I am confident that through this exhibition, Croatian friends will feel the charm of Chinese traditional culture and the beauty of Chinese civilization which is uninterrupted for more than 5000 years.

Finally, thank you again for your coming and hope you will enjoy them. I sincerely wish the Porcelain’s Journey along the Silk Road- Chinese Porcelain Culture Exhibition a complete success.

Thank you!

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