Your Excellency Dr. Nangolo Mbumba, the Fourth President of the Republic of Namibia,

Honorable Amb. Selma Ashipala-Musavyi, Minister of International Relations and Trade, and our Guest of Honor,

Honorable Philipus Katamelo, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly,

Honorable Emma Kantema, Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare,

Honorable Sophia Shaningwa, Secretary General of the SWAPO Party,

Honorable Sam Jujoma, Governor of Khomas Region,

Honorable Amb. Emilia Mkusa, Secretary to the Cabinet,  

All the Honorable Deputy Ministers, Executive Directors and Senior Namibian Government Officials Present,

Dear Colleagues of the Diplomatic Corps,

My Fellow Chinese,

Friends from the Media,

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening!

It’s my great pleasure and honor to warmly welcome all of you to attend this reception and join us in celebrating the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. I am particularly honored with the gracious presence of H.E. Dr. Mbumba, the Fourth President of the Republic of Namibia. And I am deeply grateful that Honorable Minister Musavyi made herself available for this event out of her very tight schedule.  

On behalf of the Chinese Embassy, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all our distinguished guests for your presence, and my deep appreciation to our Namibian friends from all circles of the society who have long supported the development of China and China-Namibia relations. I also wish to extend my festive greetings and best wishes to my fellow Chinese living in Namibia.

Looking back at the past 77 years, we can draw the conclusion that the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949 has laid down the solid political conditions and institutional foundations necessary for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people have gone through an extraordinary journey, scored remarkable achievements catching the attention of the world, successfully found a path to Chinese modernization, and accomplished the great transformation of the Chinese nation from standing up and growing prosperous to becoming strong.

Over the past 77 years, China’s GDP has grown from more than RMB 60 billion to over RMB 140 trillion. China that was once “poor and backward” has today become the world’s second-largest economy, largest manufacturing country and largest trading nation in goods. China has made historic leaps in economic strength, scientific and technological capabilities, overall national strength and people’s living standards.

Particularly noteworthy is that since the launch of reform and opening up in 1978, 770 million rural residents living below China’s poverty line have been raised from poverty, creating a Chinese miracle in the history of global poverty reduction.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the Chinese people have realized the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and embarked on a new journey toward building China into a strong modern socialist country.

Last year, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China set up the goal of raising China’s per capita GDP to a level on a par with that of a mid-level developed country by 2035, and the Chinese people are marching forward with full confidence toward this grand objective.

For many years, China’s contribution to global growth has remained around 30 percent. Despite a complex and challenging international economic environment, China’s GDP generated about 70 trillion RMB and grew 4.7 percent year on year in the first half of this year.

Chinese economy has once again demonstrated strong resilience and vitality, as both the size and increment of the economy continued to grow steadily, while new growth drivers accelerated their development, and new achievements have continued to emerge in such fields as AI, advanced manufacturing and new energy.

Chinese modernization is not only profoundly transforming China itself, but is also injecting greater certainty and new momentum into the world economy through China’s complete industrial system, vast market and high-level opening-up.

As the world’s largest developing country, China is also actively offering Chinese wisdom, solutions and strength to the improvement of global governance. President Xi Jinping has put forward the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and subsequently proposed the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. These initiatives have provided important ideas and practical guidance for addressing global challenges and promoting world peace and development.

China firmly supports multilateralism and stands ready to work with all parties to uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, advance the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and inject more positive energy into world peace and development.

This year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. It is also the first year of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan.

Standing at a new historical starting point, China will continue to pursue high-standard opening-up and high-quality development, advance the building of a strong country and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese modernization, and create more opportunities of cooperation for countries around the world, particularly other developing countries, through its own development.

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and gentlemen, 

As an old Chinese saying goes, “those who share the same aspirations are not separated by mountains or seas.” Although China and Namibia are about ten thousand miles away from each other, we have always been fellow travelers and true friends.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1990, China and Namibia have always respected and supported each other. No matter how the international situation may change, the friendship between China and Namibia has remained steadfast and grown stronger with the passage of time. Our two countries have carried out fruitful cooperation in extensive areas of trade and economy, infrastructure, education, health, agriculture and culture, as well as in multilateral arena, bringing tangible benefits to our two peoples.

This year is another important year in the history of China-Namibia relations, as the state visit to China by H.E. Dr. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, President of the Republic of Namibia in July was a complete success. President Xi Jinping and President Ndaitwah jointly decided to elevate our bilateral ties to a China-Namibia community with a shared future for the new era, marking a new milestone in the development of our bilateral relations, which has fully demonstrated the firm political resolve of the leaders and governments of our two countries to take China-Namibia relations to new heights.

 The important consensus reached between the two Heads of State will provide strategic guidance for the development of bilateral relations and promote more fruitful cooperation across a wide range of areas.

During the talks with President Ndaitwah, President Xi Jinping made three proposals for building a China-Namibia community with a shared future for the new era. He stressed the need to firmly support each other and deepen the convergence of our visions; tap the potential of cooperation and take it to higher levels; and uphold solidarity and coordination to safeguard multilateralism. President Xi also put forward three principles for strengthening China-Arica cooperation in the mining sector, namely pursuing mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, conducting friendly consultation, and breaking new ground. These important principles will be the key guidance for the Chinese side to further develop China-Namibia relations and deepen practical bilateral cooperation with Namibia.

I wish to emphasize here that China and Namibia not only share important common interests, but also enjoy profound traditional friendship. The spirit of friendship will continue to be reflected in exchanges and cooperation in all areas between our two countries.

The Chinese side is happy to see Namibia continue to achieve great progress in its economic and social development, and will continue to provide firm support to our Namibian friends through development cooperation, trade and investment and other initiatives.

In particular, the Chinese side will actively support Namibia in realizing the development goals set out in its Sixth National Development Plan, including helping Namibia fully benefit from China’s zero-tariff policy and push forward its industrialization and agricultural modernization.

The Chinese side will also continue to promote people-to-people exchanges, especially exchanges and cooperation between the youths of our two countries as well as in the fields of media, culture and the arts.

I am confident that, with our joint efforts, the tree of China-Namibia friendship will flourish even more, and the road of bilateral cooperation will become even wider, and the future even more promising.

In conclusion, I thank you again all our distinguished guests for your kind attendance. And now, I have the honor to invite Hon. Amb Selma Ashipala-Musavyi, Minister of International Relations and Trade and our Guest of Honor to the stage and join me in proposing a toast.

Distinguished guests, please raise your glasses.

May I propose a toast to the good health of H.E. President Ndaitwah and H.E. President Xi Jinping,

To the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China,

To the Prosperity of China and Namibia,

To the everlasting friendship between our two peoples and even more promising future of China-Namibia relations, and

To the good health of all our distinguished guests!

Cheers. Thank you!