Remarks by Ambassador Guo Haiyan on the Reception Celebrating the 74th Anniversary of China

Editor's note: H.E., Guo Haiyan, Chinese Ambassador to Guyana. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of Sino-Carib News.

Good evening! It is a pleasure to gather with you all to celebrate the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China! I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the guests and friends attending the reception, extend warm congratulations to all the staff of Chinese institutions and overseas Chinese in Guyana, and express heartfelt gratitude to friends from all walks of life who have consistently supported China's development and China-Guyana friendship!

I’d like to take this opportunity to extend my warm congratulations to Guyana for successfully hosting and winning the CPL T20. I was so excited last night to watch the Warriors making the history. We are proud of Guyana Amazon Warriors!

Dear Friends,

This is the second National Day reception I have hosted since I took my office. Last year, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of China-Guyana diplomatic relations. This year, we have more anniversaries to celebrate.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up.

Reform and opening up was a crucial strategy which has changed the trajectory of modern China. China has transformed from the verge of economic collapse to the world’s second largest economy, the largest industrial country, and the largest trader of goods in the world. China’s GDP grew 5.5 percent in the first half of 2023 and was the fastest among major economies, demonstrating strong resilience and bright prospects of China’s economy.

As a major engine for the world’s economic growth, China will stay committed to the fundamental national policy of opening up, advancing international cooperation in more areas, on higher levels and in greater depth, and turning its enormous market into tremendous opportunities for the world. This year, China has successfully hold International Consumer Products Expo, International Fair for Trade in Service, and will have Canton Fair, International Import Expo and International Supply Chain Expo. We warmly welcome enterprises from Guyana and other countries to participate!

This year marks the 10th anniversary when the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) were proposed by President Xi Jinping.

In the vast universe, this blue planet is the common home of more than 8 billion people. As the term suggests, “a community with a shared future for mankind” implies that the future of all peoples and countries in the world are closely linked and that we must stand together through thick and thin and endeavor to turn this planet into a peaceful, prosperous, and beautiful home. The volatile global environment in the past 10 years has only made this concept more appealing and influential. It has been written into several UN resolutions. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that China has become a key pillar of multilateralism, and the goal of practicing multilateralism is to build a community with a shared future for mankind. 

Over the past 10 years, China has not only been building shared-future communities among countries and regions but has also been working globally to build communities with a shared future in cyberspace, nuclear security, maritime affairs, and healthcare. President Xi has put forward the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the latest Global Civilization Initiative as platforms to turn the shared-future vision into reality.

As of the end of June 2023, China has signed more than 200 documents on jointly building the BRI with 152 countries and 32 international organizations. Over the past decade, the BRI has galvanized nearly US$1 trillion of investment. Thousands of cooperation projects have created 420,000 jobs for BRI partner countries and helped lifting almost 40 million people out of poverty. Guyana is also one of the BRI partner countries. Several infrastructure projects are under construction. Trade and investment, people to people exchanges have been accelerated. As always, China will continuously make a great contribution to the transformation and development of Guyana.

This year also marks the 170th anniversary of the Chinese arrival in Guyana.

As President Ali said, Chinese and Guyanese are one family. This year, as the gloom of the covid-19 has vanished, visits between family members has been resumed, the most remarkable among which was President Ali’s historic visit to China. During the visit, the two heads of state held cordial meetings and the two countries released a Joint Statement, which provides strong guidance for China and Guyana to build an even closer community with a shared future. The accompanying delegation of Guyanese private sector engaged with China’s business communities, injecting new impetus into the pragmatic cooperation between the two countries. President Ali also met with the Guyanese athletes participating in the Chengdu World University Games and highly praised people to people exchanges between China and Guyana.

In addition, the Guyanese friends who visited China this year also included: Ministers who attended international conferences, Members of Parliament who participated in the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s programme, journalists who joined in the media exchange programme, officials and fishermen who participated in various workshops and training programs, students from the Confucius Institute at UG who participated in the Chinese language competition, table tennis players received professional training and teens who participated in the summer camp. Before her departure to China, Miss Vanelda Harris told us that she had Chinese ancestry and felt extremely excited to visit her grandpa’s homeland. After their visits, many Guyanese friends said they “enjoyed every moment in China”. I think what they enjoyed are not only the scenery, culture, food, technology, social security, and convenient modern facilities in China, but also the warmth and joy of being with their friends and families.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of China sending Medical Teams abroad and the 30th anniversary of the Chinese Medical Team in Guyana.

Over the past 30 years, a total of 19 batches of medical team with 279 members have provided health services to Guyanese, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chinese experts have accumulatively treated about 1 million local patients and performed more than 70,000 surgeries, strongly supported the development and progress of healthcare in Guyana. The members of Chinese Medical Team have won the praise and trust of the people of Guyana. Tonight, the 18th medical team will leave for China. We salute their notable medical virtue, professionalism, dedication, and contribution to the friendship between the two countries. Let’s put our hands together to show our appreciation to their tireless and selfless service. I would also like to extend a warm welcome to the 19th medical team members who just arrived last Friday. I believe that they will fulfill their mission and perform their duties successfully. I would also like to thank the Guyanese side for the staunch trust, support, and care for the Chinese Medical Teams over the past decades.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Every country has its own unique anniversaries. For example, this year marks the 200th Anniversary of the 1823 Demerara Revolt, the 185th anniversary of the abolition of slavery, and the 50th anniversary of CARICOM. We celebrate all these anniversaries not only to retrospect major historical events, to revitalize the collective memory and national spirit of each country, but also to highlight the common values of humanity, namely, peace, development, equity, justice, democracy, and freedom. It is these common values that have led humankind from savagery to civilization, from backwardness to progress and from division to solidarity.

Today, the CPC is leading the Chinese people on a new journey toward realizing the second centenary goal of building China into a great modern socialist country which is prosperous, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful. Guyana has embarked on a fast development track and embraced great historical opportunities. Guyana demonstrates strong leadership in the areas of climate, energy, and food security, and will serve as non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.

China is willing to work with Guyana to take H.E. President Ali’s historic visit as a new starting point to deepen mutual political trust, strengthen economic and trade cooperation, enhance civilization exchanges, to jointly promote genuine multilateralism, safeguard international fairness and justice, and make new contributions to the peace and development of the world.

In closing, let us express our best wishes for the greater prosperity of China and Guyana, for well-being of the two peoples, for a brighter future of China-Guyana relations!

Thank you.

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