Remarks by Amb. JI Yanchi at Spring Festival & Arrival Reception

(Hualing Preference Hotel, 7 February 2016 at 19:00)

 

Distinguished guests, dear fellow citizens,

Respectful Ambassadors and the spouses,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening! First of all, welcome to our reception tonight.

Tomorrow we are celebrating Spring Festival, which is the most important traditional festival in China. It symbolizes the return of spring and revival of life. It carries people’s hopes and expectations for New Year as well as their longing for peace and tranquility. I am very pleased that we have gathered tonight to celebrate the Spring Festival together.

This is the first Spring Festival my wife and I are spending with our friends in Georgia, your presence makes us feel warm and happy, bringing us the feeling of home. Ever since I stepped on the soil of Georgia, I have felt love and friendship from Georgian people. President Margvelashvili, then vice Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and current Prime Minister Kvirikashvili, Chairman of Parliament, Usupashvili, former Prime Minister Garibashvili received me very cordially and friendly. Georgian people showed me their diligence, wisdom, kindness, hospitality and brought me the feeling of Déjà vu. Ancient Chinese porcelain, silk, herbal remedies and other relics unearthed in the ancient city of Uplistsikhe, as well as Georgian dishes, such as “Khinkali” and “Khachapuri” brought back shared memories of our history. Ancient Silk Road linked our people closely together over two thousand years ago. At the end of the 19th century, Chinese tea expert named Liu Junzhou came to Georgia. He brought tea seeds and plants with him and introduced tea-making technology to Georgia. He bred a high quality tea variety, called “Liu Cha” that won the golden medal at the International Industrial Expo in Paris. This became a much-told interesting story of the friendly cooperation history between China and Georgia. Today, the two countries are jointly building the “Silk Road Economic Belt”, thus, writing a new chapter in the Sino-Georgian history of friendly cooperation.

Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Friends,

2015 was a very fruitful year in the China-Georgia relations. President Margvelashvili and Chinese Vice-President Li Yuanchao held a bilateral meeting in Turkmenistan. Chinese and Georgian Prime Ministers and the Chairmen of both parliaments held meetings in China. Bilateral trade volume reached 713 million US dollars, Georgia’s overall export to China grew by 39.1%, and export of Georgian wine by 122%, China became Georgia’s fourth largest trade partner and fourth largest wine importer. The two sides co-organized Tbilisi Silk Road International Forum, direct freight railway line was opened, a frame agreement on exchange of local currencies was signed, launch of free trade agreement negotiations were announced, all of which add concrete content to the cooperation for jointly building the “Silk Road Economic Belt”. Bilateral cooperation in the fields of culture, education, science, technology, tourism etc. is becoming more and more active day by day.

I would like to underline, that these results were achieved under the close attention and strong impetus from the leadership of the two countries as well as firm support of Georgian president, government, parliament, associated departments and political parties. They could not be achieved without active participation of people from all sectors who are concerned by the Sino-Georgian friendship. They could not be achieved without dedication of the Chinese companies and citizens in Georgia, as they put their soul and flesh into the implementation of cooperation projects. Hereby, I would like to express my sincere respect and gratitude towards them and wish them all the best in the Chinese New Year to come.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,

Spring Festival is the time for new beginning. As the newly appointed Chinese Ambassador to Georgia, I clearly see that there is a great potential and broad prospect for bilateral cooperation. I am ready to continue with our efforts together with the Georgian side, to strengthen traditional friendship, expand pragmatic cooperation and make new contributions to promote friendly cooperation between China and Georgia to a higher level.

At the end, I would like to wish China and Georgia prosperity and their people happiness and peace.

My best wishes to all of you and to the Georgian people and my fellow citizens. Wish you happiness, good health and all the best in the year of monkey!