Address by Ambassador Huang Xilian at the Reception Celebrating the 73rd Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China
(September 26th)
Madam First Lady Liza Marcos,
Your Excellency Vice President Sara Duterte, Excellencies,
Dear compatriots, ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon!
It gives me great pleasure to get together with you all to celebrate the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. I want to express my sincere gratitude to Madam First Lady Liza Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte for attending the event. I would also like to send my cordial greetings to all our guests!
In the past 73 years, the Communist Party of China has led the Chinese people through countless difficulties. Ten years ago since socialism with Chinese characteristics entered a new era, under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, we have accomplished the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society and started a new journey of building a modern socialist country. We have resolutely opposed “Taiwan independence” and advanced national reunification. The past decade was indeed a milestone in China’s development.
It was a decade of people-centered and high-quality development. China’s overall national strength rose to a new level, with its economy exceeding 110 trillion RMB, making it the world’s second largest economy. We eradicated extreme poverty, achieved the UN poverty reduction target 10 years ahead of schedule. In the face of COVID-19, we put people and lives first and achieved positive results in economic development.
It was a decade of opening up at a higher level and sharing development opportunities with the world. China has opened wider and deeper. Its contribution to world economic growth has been more than 30%. The Belt and Road cooperation has yielded fruitful results with a large number of projects completed, making real contributions to local economic growth and people’s livelihood.
It was a decade where China shouldered the responsibilities of a major country. President Xi Jinping put forward the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, providing important guidance for sustainable development and resolving security dilemmas. We have also actively participated in global governance, and promoted world peace and development.
It is particularly worth mentioning that earlier this year, we successfully hosted the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, sending a strong message of “Together for a Shared Future” to the world to promote global solidarity.
Dear compatriots, ladies and gentlemen,
China-Philippines relations are now at a new starting point. We are ready to work with the Philippines to implement the consensus reached by President Xi and President Marcos Jr. to follow through on the blueprint for cooperation to jointly usher in a new “golden era” in our bilateral relations.
We should preserve the friendship between China and the Philippines. This is not only the common aspiration of the two peoples, but also the inevitable choice for common development. We should cherish what we have achieved, stay committed to friendly cooperation to ensure that our friendship will last forever.
We should deepen mutual trust to ensure a solid foundation for China-Philippines relations. We need to step up communication on bilateral, regional and international issues from a strategic and long-term perspective, so as to enhance mutual trust and prevent our cooperation from being overshadowed by trivia.
We should focus on cooperation to ensure steady growth of China-Philippines relations. The two countries share broad common interests and infinite potential for win-win cooperation. We should earnestly cooperate in the four key areas of agriculture, infrastructure, energy and people-to-people exchanges to enhance the sense of gain of our two peoples.
We should properly handle differences to remove interference from China-Philippines relations. We are neighbors that cannot be moved away and have every reason to live together peacefully. We should put our differences in a proper place and seek peaceful solutions through friendly consultations so that our overall relations will not be affected.
Dear compatriots, ladies and gentlemen,
In a few weeks’ time, the CPC will host the 20th National Congress in Beijing. The conference will outline the two-step strategic arrangement for building China into a great modern socialist country, and map out the strategic tasks and major measures for the next five years. This will not only open a new chapter in China, but also provide new opportunities for the development of China-Philippines relations.
I have full confidence in the prospects of China and China-Philippines relations. I wish China and the Philippines prosperity! May the peoples of the two countries be happy and well!
Thank you!