It is my great pleasure to warmly welcome all our distinguished guests to this reception and concert. Thank you so much for celebrating the Chinese National Day with us. It means so much to me and the Chinese Embassy.

In particular, I would like to thank the Hon. Acting Prime Minister and Mrs Cooper for making yourselves available for this occasion. 

China has come a long way in the past 73 years. We rose from the dark shadows of semi-colonization and oppression to become masters of our own destiny. In a little over a generation since reform and opening-up, China made a historic leap from poverty and backwardness into the world’s second largest economy. 

We’re filled with pride about what our country has accomplished and confidence in better days ahead.

Over the past year, our country has reaffirmed its strategic direction.

Last year we celebrated the centennial anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Since then, the CPC has further adopted a resolution to summarize its major achievements over the past century, and reaffirm the core leadership of President Xi Jinping and the guiding position of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. 

Our country has embarked on a new journey of all-round socialist modernization, moving ever closer to the goal of rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

China’s progress has been achieved in an era of globalization through peaceful and equal commercial exchange. It is unstoppable and beneficial to the world.

Over the past year, our country has moved forward despite challenges. We overcame floods, droughts, earthquakes, mudslides, wild fires and mounting downward pressure on the economy, and continued to fight the pandemic while promoting growth and recovery. 

In the first half of this year, China’s GDP grew by 2.5%, foreign trade by 9.4% year-on-year. Inflation was kept below 2%. Trade with and direct investment in Belt and Road countries increased by nearly 18% and 5% respectively.

In the context of the lingering pandemic, profound global shifts and rising de-globalization, China will remain a land of opportunity for countries around the world.

Over the past year, our country achieved new breakthroughs on multiple fronts. The Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics held early this year made Beijing a "Double Olympic City", having hosted both the summer and winter Olympics. 

Within a year, two manned spacecrafts were launched into space, each time with a woman astronaut in them also performing space walks. Another lab-module to be launched next month will be the last piece of the "puzzle" for the completion of China’s space station.

Over the past year, our country has fulfilled its responsibilities as a global citizen. 

As the pandemic swallowed gains of global development, China proposed a global development initiative, or GDI, last year to re-energize efforts to achieve the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals in developing countries. 

China has been enhancing bilateral and multilateral institutional frameworks and funding to facilitate the implementation of the GDI. 

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has just hosted a ministerial conference for the “friends of the GDI” group at the United Nations to solidify international support for GDI.

In the spirit of building a community of health for all, China has provided hundreds of billions of pieces of medical supplies and 2.2 billion vaccine doses to countries around the world. 

China unveiled a comprehensive program of actions for carbon emission peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 and laid out road-maps and timetables for emission reduction in key industries and in all provinces and cities. 

The past year has also witnessed a positive momentum for China-Bahamas relations. 

Together, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with a series of events, from the official reception to the Inaugural Dragon Boat Festival, from the youth entrepreneurship forum to the trade cooperation forum.

The political foundation of our relations has remained strong, thanks to the Bahamas government’s adherence to the one-China principle. 

We have continued to work together to fight the pandemic. China has so far provided nine batches of medical supplies to The Bahamas. A new batch is now ready and will be shipped soon. 

We are working together to build bridges between our business communities, encourage trade to ease the cost-of-living challenges, and take forward agricultural cooperation. 

We are building on our commonalities on climate change to deepen policy dialogue and practical cooperation, including in renewable energy.

Our people-to-people friendship has deepened. We have high hopes for the sister province/island relationship between Hunan Province and Grand Bahama.

We are proud to support the Bahamas Chinese community and the Bahamas government in introducing a brand new sport of dragon boat racing to the Bahamas. The enthusiastic participation by both Bahamians and regional teams is deeply encouraging.

Looking to the future, we hope to see more interactions between our countries at senior levels, more two-way business travels, more Bahamian students, artists, athletes in China, and certainly more Chinese tourists in the Bahamas.

Ladies and gentlemen, friends,

The Communist Party of China will convene its 20th National Congress next month. This pivotal party congress will formulate the overarching objectives and policies for the next five years. It will unite and inspire the Chinese people to scale new heights in building socialism with Chinese characteristics. 

The Bahamas will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its independence next year. 

As a friend, a partner for common development, and a fellow member of the global community, China wishes the Bahamas well. We are ready to work with Bahamian colleagues and friends for a better future of friendship and cooperation between our countries.

To conclude, I would like to propose a toast,

To the prosperity and well-being of the People's Republic of China,

To the prosperity and well-being of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, 

To the friendship between our peoples,

To the health and success of all distinguished guests tonight!