Dear Eritrean officials,

Dear Eritrean and Chinese scholars,

Dear colleagues and friends,

 

Kemey Wuelkum!

 

Welcome to the new Chinese Embassy. First of all, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy in Eritrea, I'd like to extend my warm welcome to the Chinese delegation headed by Mr. Li Xinfeng, Deputy Director-General of Institute of West Asia and African Studies (IWAAS), China Academy of Social Sciences,  which is a famous research institute as well as think-tank in China. Today, think-tank scholars from both countries, officials in charge of various fields from different Ministries of Government of Eritrea and representatives from Chinese enterprises gather here to exchange thoughts, communicate policies on China-Africa relations and Belt and Road construction and make proposals for enhancing China-Eritrea practical cooperation. This seminar will offer a good opportunity for us to raise mutual understanding in general and academic exchanges in particular.

 

Think-tank exchanges play an irreplaceable role in solidifying bilateral strategic trust, upgrading the level of bilateral ties and deepening people-to-people friendship. Eritrean think-tanks including Eritrean Center for Strategic Studies (ECSS) and Asmara University have many excellent scholars with rich experience, who have developed deep research interests in China's development and initiatives, as well as China-Africa and China-Eritrea cooperation. I hope the think-tanks from both countries will take this seminar as a starting point of strengthening mutual learning through academic interactions and collaboration, so as to contribute more wisdom and dynamics to the future development of China-Eritrea friendly cooperative relations.

 

Dear scholars and friends,

 

This year marks the 40th anniversary for China's adoption of reform and opening-up. Over the past four decades, China's GDP has averaged an annual growth rate of around 9.5%, and more than 700 million Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty. Today's China has grown into the world's second largest economy, the largest industrial producer, the largest trader of goods and the holder of the largest foreign exchange reserves. In the international arena, through getting integrated into the global economic system, China has contributed over 30% of global economic growth in recent years, China has become a key anchor and driver for the world economy as well as a positive force in advancing development and prosperity of the mankind.

 

On the other hand however, the basic fact that China is and will be remaining in the preliminary phase of socialism has not changed, China's international status of being the world's largest developing country has not changed, and China's development is confronted with complicated and thorny challenges including heavy tasks on poverty alleviation, imbalanced development, environmental pollution, low-level per capita GDP among others. 

 

But difficulties should never be an excuse for stopping making progress and contribution. Just as Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping said, "we should roll up our sleeves and work with added energy". Facing complex development environment, China will continue to extend domestic reform and further opening-up, stick to independent diplomatic policy and the path of peaceful development, work together with all peoples to build a shared future of common destiny for the mankind and a new type of international relations. China has contributed its solutions for world economic development through international cooperation platforms such as the Belt and Road Initiative and Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

 

Dear scholars and friends,

 

This September, China will host the Beijing FOCAC Summit. This summit will harmonize with China-Africa co-building the Belt and Road, United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, African Union 2063 Agenda as well as country-specific development strategies, and devise new plans for China-Africa cooperation and win-win outcomes for the years to come.

 

I am confident the upcoming Beijing Summit will also invigorate the China-Eritrea cooperation. China and Eritrea are both developing countries and enjoy natural alignment and intimacy in our mutual political trust, social values, pragmatic cooperation and cultural and people-to-people exchanges. On this existing basis, so long as we grasp and explore the new opportunities brought by frameworks such as FOCAC Beijing Summit, we will surely be able to take China-Eritrea development partnership to a new high, and better serve the well-being of both countries and peoples.

 

Yekenyeley!