Your Excellency Mr. Kuwari, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Acting Minister of Finance,

Your Excellency Ambassador Fakhroo, Director of Protocol Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 

Your Excellency Mr. Abdullah, Acting Director of Asian Affairs of Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

Your Excellency Mr. Ahmad, Director of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry,

Your Excellency Ambassador of Eritrea, Dean of Diplomatic Corps,

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear friends,

Good Morning!

Thank you for joining us here to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. First of all, I would like to extend my sincere welcome to all the friends attending today, and my festive greetings to all the Chinese nationals, enterprises, news agencies, students, teachers and scholars in Qatar!

The year 2021 is destined to be a year of special significance in the history of China and Qatar. The Communist Party of China has celebrated its 100th anniversary, while Qatar has seen fruits and harvests since its independence 50 years ago. From the past to the present, and looking to the future, there are two phrases that could best summarize the development of China and Qatar --"inherit spirits" and "pursue dreams". On the journey towards the dreams of rejuvenation, China and Qatar, with our national spirits, have been forging ahead with dedication and hard work.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China. Over the past 100 years of unremitting efforts for strength, China, a once poverty-stricken country, now emerges as the second largest economy in the world. During the early stage of the People's Republic, we were one of the poorest countries in the world. However, under the leadership of the CPC, China has accomplished industrialization within decades, which took developed countries hundreds of years to achieve.  China is now the world's second largest economy, the largest trader of goods, with the most comprehensive modern industrial system. This year, we have made a good start in our 14th Five-Year Plan, accelerated efforts to create a new development pattern through high-quality development. In the first half of 2021, China's GDP exceeded 53 trillion yuan, up 12.7% year-on-year, leading the world in growth. Areas such as crewed space mission, Mars exploration, chip research and nuclear fusion development have seen frequent achievements. Not long ago, the "Shenzhou Twelve" spacecraft carried 3 Chinese astronauts back to earth after a 3-month journey in space, serving as a milestone breakthrough in China's space industry, and making pioneering contributions to the peaceful use of space by mankind.

Over the past 100 years, we have inherited the principle of "people first" and achieved the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Since its founding, the CPC has taken people's happiness as its aspiration and mission. On the path to common prosperity, we have built the world's largest social security system, with no one left behind. In the fight against the pandemic, we cared about the life, value and dignity of every individual, and did our utmost to protect people's lives. This year, we have made a historic effort to eradicate absolute poverty. Nearly 100 million rural residents have been lifted out of poverty by the current standard, achieving the poverty reduction target of UN 2030 SDA 10 years ahead of schedule, contributing to over 70% of global poverty reduction.

In my hometown Gushi County, Henan Province, there is a village called Qiaotou. It was once so poor and isolated that it was difficult for the villagers to feed themselves. In recent years, with the help of the Party and the government, the village has developed through planting, breeding and clothes production. Today, we can see extended roads, thriving industries, and civilized, lifestyles, people's lives there have become much more prosperous. The change of Qiaotou village is a miniature of how hundreds of millions of Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty.

Over the past 100 years, we have inherited the concept of peaceful development and moved from the "sick man of East Asia" to the center of the world stage. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, China has always been striving to maintain world peace, promote global growth, uphold international order, and provide the world with global public goods. We have become the 2nd largest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations and with the largest peacekeeping troops among P5, and have contributed 30 percent to the world economy in the past decade. This year, China is leading the world's largest COVID-19 vaccine cooperation, providing more than 1 billion doses of vaccines to more than 100 countries and international organizations. We have played an active role in resolving hotspot issues including Afghanistan, Palestine, and the Iranian nuclear issue, contributing Chinese wisdom and solutions to building a world of lasting peace and universal security. We have been promoting high-quality Belt and Road development, bringing new opportunities for the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear friends,

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Qatar's independence. Over the past 50 years, under the leadership of past and present Emirs, Qatar has upheld the faiths of hard-working, openness and diversification, defended national sovereignty and stability, developed a modern economy, expanded opening to the global market, and actively carried out a strong foreign policy. Through these efforts, Qatar has turned from a small fishing village into a leading power and an oasis of safety and development. This year, Qatar continues to make great strides towards National Vision 2030. We can see the steady progress in the Shura Council election, the success in pandemic control and vaccination, as well as robust economic recovery and smooth preparations for the 2022 World Cup. Qatar's diplomacy, especially its efforts in hotspot issues such as Afghanistan, has also been widely recognized. What impressed me most is Qatar's success in the Tokyo Olympic Games, where we have seen the first-ever gold medal in Qatar's history, with overall medals topping the Arab world. In particular, Qatar's high jumper Barshim shared the gold medal with his Italian competitor, which perfectly illustrated the Olympic spirit of "Faster, Higher, Stronger and Together".

This year marks the 33rd anniversary of the diplomatic relations between China and Qatar. Over the past 33 years, China and Qatar have followed the original aspiration of equal friendship and win-win cooperation. We have supported each other on issues of core interests, helped each other in exploring respective development paths, gained mutual understanding through exchange and mutual learning among civilizations, and stood together through weal and woe in the fight against the pandemic. This year, China-Qatar relations have maintained a sound momentum of greater development. HE Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau and Director of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, paid a successful visit to Qatar, raising our political mutual trust between to a new level. Trade volume China and Qatar has seen rapid growth, China remains as Qatar's largest trading partner. Our two sides have signed a LNG long-term agreement of 2 million tons per year for 10 years. Chinese electric buses will roll into the 2022 World Cup, and our pragmatic cooperation has made new achievements. China and Qatar have joined hands to support international cooperation against pandemic and worked for the political settlement of hotspot issues such as Afghanistan, Palestine and the Iranian nuclear issue, making new progress in multilateral coordination.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,

Over the past century, China has embarked on a new journey to build a modern socialist country. With new development stage ahead, we will follow the new development paradigm and create a new development dynamic towards the Second Centenary Goal. After 50 years of hard work, Qatar has been at the forefront of modern development and is racing towards further prosperity. We should never stop striving for our dreams of a better future. Standing at a new historical starting point, the peoples of China and Qatar are closer than ever to the great dreams of national rejuvenation. I believe that as long as we have the spirit, the confidence and the strength to pursue our dreams, we will make our dreams come true and achieve greater success.

The year 2022 is a crucial year for China and Qatar in the pursuit of dreams. China will host the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup. These two major events will give strong support to China's "Vision 2035" and Qatar's "National Vision 2030", bringing strong driving force to new progress in China-Qatar relations. We should take this opportunity to jointly realize our common dreams of national rejuvenation and move toward a bright future of common development.

In the pursuit of dreams, China and Qatar should uphold the flame of unity. Next February, the winter-time Beijing will once again light up the Olympic flame, becoming the first city in history to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics. With the precondition of safety from pandemic, China will follow the principles of "green, inclusive, open and clean" and host a simple, safe and wonderful Winter Olympics. China welcomes Qatar's participation in Beijing. In next November, the 2022 World Cup will make its debut in the Arab world with a legendary opening at Lusail Stadium. We are ready to work with Qatar to turn the two sports events into grand gatherings of peace, friendship and solidarity. With the belief of "Faster, Higher, Stronger, Together", these events will boost the confidence of mankind of sodalirity in times of difficulty, strengthen the bond of all countries, and make remarkable history in Olympics and the World Cup.

In the pursuit of dreams, China and Qatar could build a strong defense against the pandemic. As the pandemic continues to rage around the world, cooperation is the right way forward. At the General Debate of the 76th Session of UNGA, President Xi Jinping announced that China will strive to provide a total of 2 billion doses of vaccines to the world by the end of this year. In addition to donating 100 million US dollars to COVAX, China will donate 100 million doses of vaccines to other developing countries in the course of this year. This is another major step taken by China to fulfill its commitment to global public goods of vaccines. China welcomes Qatar's participation in the Belt and Road Vaccine Partnership initiative and stands ready to work with Qatar to promote fair and reasonable distribution of vaccines around the world. The pandemic will be defeated, and so is the political virus. We need to work together to ensure science-based origin-tracing, oppose politicization and political manipulation, and maintain sound global cooperation in the fight against COVID-19, making more contributions to the building of a global community of health for all.

In the pursuit of dreams, China and Qatar will embark on the road of green development. "Clear waters and green mountains are invaluable treasures". This is the common aspiration of the peoples of China and Qatar. At the General Debate of the 76th Session of UNGA, President Xi Jinping announced that China will strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, support for other developing countries in building green and low-carbon energy, and will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad. Not long ago, Qatar adopted a national plan to combat climate change, aiming to lead the region in energy conservation, emission reduction and sustainable development. Accelerating transition to a green and low-carbon economy and achieving green recovery and development have become a new driving force for China-Qatar cooperation. We are ready to work with Qatar to strengthen cooperation in green infrastructure, green energy and green finance, build more eco-friendly projects and enhance our partnership in green development. We need to actively respond to climate change in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, improve global environmental governance, and jointly build a community of life together for man and nature.

In the pursuit of dreams, China and Qatar should uphold the value of peace. A famous poem by Chairman Mao says: "Peace would then reign over the world, the same warmth and cold throughout the globe." China always cares about peace, security and development in the Middle East. Since the beginning of this year, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has visited 9 regional countries and put forward a 5-point proposal for peace and stability in the Middle East and a 3-point approach for "two-state solution" regarding the Palestine issue. Recently, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced an emergency humanitarian assistance of 200 million yuan to Afghanistan. China highly appreciates Qatar's unique role in the ceasefire and violence reduction between Palestine and Israel, in promoting the de-escalation of the Gulf region and in the mediation efforts on Afghanistan issues. We are ready to work with Qatar to find the key to peace and explore the path of development, so as to make greater contribution to regional and world peace and development. We should also work together to advocate the common humanity values of peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, practice true multilateralism, uphold the UN-centered international system, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms of international relations underpinned by the principles of the UN Charter, oppose hegemony and power politics, oppose interference of internal affairs, and support all countries in pursuing development paths suited to their own national conditions, seeking to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear friends,

At the intersection of 100 and 50 years of history, the Chinese dragon and the Qatari antelope are marching ahead. I am confident that China and Qatar will continue to inherit the spirit of unity, strength and friendship from generation to another. We will join hands to pursue dreams for ourselves and for each other, and serve the dreams for all mankind towards a brighter future.

Finally, let us wish the People's Republic of China prosperity,

May China-Qatar friendship last forever,

Wish the people of China and Qatar happiness,

Wish all guests good health and all the best!

Thank you.