Mr. V. P. Koshala Ram Dass, President of India-China Friendship Association,

Mr. Shri Ram Sharma, Secretary General of India-China Friendship Association,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends,

First of all, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy, I would like to express our heartfelt thanks to you for hosting this assembly to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Today I am especially cheerful because my colleagues and I are here to celebrate our National Day with Indian friends who are committed to the promotion of friendship and cooperation between China and India.

Tomorrow, October 1st, will witness a grand celebration all over China, in particular in Beijing.

Looking back, Chinese people are proud of what our motherland has achieved in the past 60 years. Since the founding of the new China, under the correct leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government, Chinese people have worked hard in one heart and one mind, and turned China from a backward country into a moderately prosperous nation, with relatively advanced agriculture, industry and science and technology. In 2008, China's GDP reached US$4.4 trillion, becoming the third largest world economy. The 1.3 billion Chinese people live a well-off and harmonious life today. China’s international standing and influence have reached a height never seen in the modern Chinese history. As a multi-ethnic country with 56 nationalities, China pursues policies of equal development of all nationalities in the fields of politics, economy, education, culture, religion, etc., which has promoted national unity, equality and prosperity.

The Chinese people have found a development path suitable to our national conditions and will strive to build China into a moderately prosperous society in all aspects by the year 2020. In Chinese tradition, 60 years represent a cycle of life. In the years ahead, China will firmly and continuously stick to the path of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, adhere to the policy of reform and opening up, upheld the independent foreign policy of peace and the policy of promoting world peace and development.

Over the past six decades, China-India relations have also witnessed tremendous changes.

In recent years, with personal care of the leaders of our two countries, China and India have established Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity. China has firmly and unwaveringly promoted harmonious and good-neighborly cooperation with India and is ready to work with the Indian side to maintain the sound momentum for development of the bilateral Strategic and Cooperative Partnership. Two sides have maintained frequent high-level visits. Contacts and exchanges between parliamentarians and political parties are active. We have every reason to believe that China-India relations will further advance.

As two fastest growing economies, China-India bilateral trade has been increasing at an annual rate of 30% since 2003, amounting to US$51.7 billion in 2008. The two sides have set the target for trade volume of US$60 billion by 2010. Today, more than 100 Indian enterprises and over 60 Chinese companies have established sub-companies or project offices in both countries. Economic cooperation has yielded tangible benefits to the people of two countries.

The exchanges and cooperation in other fields are also witnessing fast expansion. The two armed forces have successfully held two joint anti-terrorism training exercises. In the cultural and tourism fields, exchanges are expanding rapidly. The overall exchange of personnel exceeded 500,000 annually in recent years. A 100-member youth delegation from one country visits the other every year from 2007 to 2011. Next year, “Indian Festival” and “China Festival” will be held in respective country. At the same time, exchanges in the fields of science and technology are going on, covering agriculture, bio-technology, chemical, pharmaceutical, electronic and new materials.

In the international arena, China and India have maintained close consultation and coordination on major international issues such as trade, climate change, environment, energy and food security, terrorism as well as the financial crisis. Both are committed to safeguarding the rights and interests of the developing countries and building a fair, just and reasonable international economic and financial order. In the G-20 Financial Summits, China and India work closely and helped deliver a positive result. China and India have also maintained close coordination and cooperation within the regional frameworks such as ASEAN Summit, ARF, China-India-Russia Trilateral Dialogue, the BRICs and other international and regional forum. China has become an observer of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,

At this moment of celebration, my colleagues and I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in promoting China-India relations over decades. Next year will be 60th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic relation between our two countries. It is my firm belief that development of friendship and cooperation between China and India is irreversible. You are doing a noble job which serves the interests of our two peoples. I hope you will continue to follow the developments in China with keen interest and play a more active role of a bridge between our two countries and two peoples. I believe with the support of leaders of both countries and joint efforts of people from all walks of life in both countries, including all of you present here today, China-India friendship and cooperation will grow from strength to strength. Let’s work together for a better tomorrow of China-India relations.

Thank you!