(Xiongan New Area, Hebei, October 12, 2024)
Dear friends,
It is a great pleasure to gather with you here in Xiongan New Area, where we can feel the vibrant energy of China’s “City of the Future”. First, on behalf of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Hebei Provincial Party Committee and the provincial government for their meticulous organization and thoughtful arrangements for today’s event. I also extend a warm welcome and heartfelt greetings to all our distinguished guests and friends visiting Xiongan.
The China International Friendship Conference and the 70th Anniversary Celebration of CPAFFC mark a significant milestone in the history of the CPAFFC and a grand gathering for the cause of people-to-people friendship between China and other nations. With the enthusiastic participation and strong support of friends from nearly 100 countries and regions, this event is now drawing to a successful close. Our international friends have engaged in in-depth exchanges, mutual learning, and collaboration under the theme of “Deepening People-to-People Friendship and Promoting the Building of a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind”, achieving many positive results in a warm, friendly, and festive atmosphere.
First, we have further consolidated the international consensus on building a community with a shared future for mankind. This vision represents the future of all people around the world. During his recent meeting with all of you, President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech, offering a profound explanation of China’s vision for the unique role of people-to-people diplomacy under new circumstances, deepening international friendship, and advancing the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. His remarks resonated deeply with friends from around the world. We look forward to working together with friends from all nations, leveraging the unique strengths of people-to-people diplomacy to foster friendship between peoples, promote pragmatic international cooperation, and build confidence in the cause of global peace, development, and progress. Let us navigate this path of mutual support, cooperation, inclusiveness, and shared prosperity, contributing our collective wisdom and strength to the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Second, we have gained a deeper understanding of the many facets of Chinese modernization. Advancing the New Journey of National Rejuvenation and Building a Strong Country through Chinese modernization is the central task of the Communist Party of China and the nation on this new journey. Recently, the 20th CPC Central Committee’s Third Plenary Session set out a comprehensive plan to further deepen reform and advance Chinese modernization. During this event, we arranged visits to the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center and Xiongan New Area, providing our international friends with an opportunity to witness firsthand the model of high-quality urban development in China and the promising prospects of Chinese modernization. We warmly welcome more foreign friends to actively engage in this process of Chinese modernization, working together to promote world modernization characterized by peace, development, mutual benefit, and shared prosperity, ultimately bringing greater benefits to people across the world.
Third, we have gathered even greater civil forces to support the cause of friendship between the peoples of China and other nations. More than 300 international friends from nearly 100 countries and regions have traveled great distances to be here, crossing mountains and seas, all in the name of friendship and the noble cause of people-to-people exchanges. This dedication has deeply moved and inspired us. We will continue to uphold our commitment to friendship, uniting civil forces to build more bridges for people-to-people exchanges, pragmatic cooperation, cultural engagement, and youth friendship, fostering deeper understanding and closer bonds among peoples. We eagerly anticipate and warmly welcome more individuals of insight from around the world to join this great cause of people-to-people friendship, building bridges of friendship and connecting hearts, so that together we can create a better world for future generations.
Our time together is brief, but the friendships we have forged will endure. In just a few short days, we have shared many heartwarming moments and touching memories. Through your actions, you have shown that you were, are, and will continue to be friends of the Chinese people!
Dear friends, your long journeys to be here fill us with gratitude; your sincere wishes inspire us greatly; and your deep bonds of friendship will remain in our hearts forever! As the song “Auld Lang Syne” goes, “Let us sing with one voice, to everlasting friendship. Let us hold hands closely, and never forget our bond. Let us raise our glasses high, to friendships that will last forever”.
Thank you!
