Ms. Jayne Brady, Head of Civil Service, from TEO,

Deputy Lord Lieutenant, Dr. Nigel Carr,

Hon. Sammy Wilson, MP,

Hon. Cathal Mallaghan, MP,

Hon. Mayors, Chairs, and friends from the local councils,

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

Good Evening!

It is a great pleasure, and indeed a great honor to have all of you join us here today in celebrating the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. A very big thank you, and the warmest welcome to you all!

Ladies and gentlemen, this year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the CPC. To understand China today, one must first understand the Communist Party of China. From the very first day of its founding in 1921, the CPC has been firmly committed to its original aspiration and mission, namely, to seek the happiness for the Chinese people, the rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, the progress for humanity, and the harmony for the world. The CPC has not been just talking the talk, but always walking the walk. Facts speak louder than words. As shown on the video just minutes ago, in the past more than 7 decades, under the strong leadership of the CPC, China has transformed from a poor agrarian country into the world’s second largest economy, the largest manufacturing power, and the largest trader in goods. China’s share of global GDP jumped from 1.7% in 1978 to 16.5% in 2025, an almost 10 fold increase. China has also build up the world’s largest education, social security, and healthcare system, generating 12 million university graduates each year and serving its 1.4 billion people everyday. China has lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty and eradicated abject poverty for the first time in Chinese history. The average life expectancy of the Chinese people has increased from 35 in 1949 to over 79 years in 2025, and the illiteracy rate in China dropped from over 80% to less than 2.7% in the same period. Furthermore, with more than 100 million party members, the CPC is now the largest governing party with significant global influence. And its strong commitment of self-reform and improvement through strict party disciplines and anti-corruption campaigns has ensured that it enjoys the high approval rating among the Chinese people. Continuous public opinion study reports by Harvard University have revealed that, the Chinese people’s satisfaction rate with the CPC and Chinese Central Government has been stabilizing at over 90% for 13 consecutive years, and is still steadily on the rise.

Dear friends, this year also marks the beginning of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, and the starting of a new journey of Chinese modernization characterized by green and hi-tech economic transformation, new qualitative productive forces, and high quality development. In the first half year of 2026, China’s nominal GDP increased by 4.7% and reached $10.09 trillion, the first time over $10 trillion for half a year in China’s economic history.

Technological innovation has become the dominant driving force for China’s growth. In 2025, China invested 2.8% of its GDP in R&D spending and for the first time in the Global Innovation Index by WIPO, China entered the top 10 list. China now accounts for 25% of the world’s top 100 innovation clusters, ranking first for 4 consecutive years in the world.

The development of Al has become the leading force in China’s technological innovation. China now has more than 600 million generative Al users and hosts more than 5300 Al core players including the owners of Deepseek, Kimi K3, Qwen and many other large language models, providing top 6 of the most downloaded and utilized open-source Al models, with a downloads share of 41% globally. Al is increasingly playing an important role in integrating with the real economy in China, involving new energy vehicles, industrial robots, intelligent manufacturing, smart logistics, healthcare and finance, etc. As Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out at the recent 2026 World Al Conference in China, all countries should take a people-centered approach, develop Al for the positive and for good, ensure that Al is an important driver for shared prosperity and common security, and work together to build a just and equitable system for global Al Governance.

Dear friends, as the world is enduring volatility and global economic recovery remains under pressure, some countries have turned to sanctions, tariffs or even use of force for protection. China doesn’t think trade war or protectionism is the right answer. Rather, China has been improving its easy-to-do-business environment, embracing free trade and promoting an open world economy, offering tremendous market opportunities with its 1.4 billion population, especially the more than 400 million middle-income population. In the first half of 2026, China’s total trade has increased by 21.2% to $3.67 trillion, with importing up by 26.6% and exporting up by 17.6% respectively.

Citing China’s GDP growth rate of 4.7% in the first half of this year, some people say: “China’s economy is collapsing”. Certainly not true. The net GDP growth of China in the first half of 2026 (over $500 billion) is equivalent to Malaysia’s total GDP for the entire year of 2025. What they do not see or may not know is that, in the past 10 years, China has contributed more than 30% on average to global economic growth, making it the most vital engine of world economy. With its solid growth, China has also been injecting huge certainty into the economically challenging world.

Complaining about China’s trade surplus, some say “China is exporting overcapacity” or “causing China Shock 2.0”. Not true either. What they do not know or are ignoring intentionally or unintentionally, is that, for years, China has been effectively alleviating the world’s inflation pressure through its steady supply of high quality products at affordable prices. Even less people know, that only one third of China’s exports is produced by the local Chinese producers, and the other two thirds of exports are produced by non-Chinese local companies, mainly US, European, Japanese and South Korean companies operating in China. In addition, China’s imports are now growing 9% faster than exports in 2026.

As the second largest consumer and import market, instead of raising tariffs, China has been proactively cutting import tariffs rates, shortening the negative list of FDIs, and introducing zero tariff policies of 63 countries including 53 African countries. China has also been the leading player and major contributor in serving the world with high-quality low-cost green manufacturing products such as EV, solar panels, wind turbines so as to facilitate and accelerate the green energy transition of the world economy, and effectively helping to address the climate change crisis.

So China’s message is loud and clear: Believing in China is believing in tomorrow, investing in China is investing in the future, and collaborating with China will lead to win-win benefits. To western friends, I can assure you that, China will not eat your lunch, but prefers to cook our lunches together. You already know how well the Chinese people cook.

Distinguished guest, ladies and gentlemen, this year also marks the 5th anniversary of President Xi Jinping’s proposal of the Global Development Initiative. The Global Development Initiative, together with the Global Security Initiative, Global Civilization Initiative and Global Governance Initiative, have been well-received and accepted by more than 100 countries, demonstrating China’s good will, wisdom, and determination to be a builder of world peace, a contributor of global development, and a defender of international order. China strongly believes in “one world, one family”, and values “harmony among all nations”. We strongly believe, building a community of a share future for humanity is not only likely and possible, but also highly necessary and relevant.

Dear friends, this year also marks the positive development in China-UK relations. While PM Keir Starmer’s visit to China earlier this year marks the two countries’ consensus of developing a long-term and consistent comprehensive strategic partnership, President Xi Jinping and PM Andy Burnham’s recent telephone conversation on Sept. 8, has reconfirmed this consensus and chartered the new course for the future development of China-UK relations. China is the UK’s 3rd largest trading partner. In 2025, bilateral trade between China and the UK exceeded £120 billion, and two-way investment stock surpassed £140 billion. Both as the permanent members of the UNSC and global economies, China and the UK have more common interests than disagreements, and our bilateral relationship goes beyond our boarders. The two countries have both the responsibility, the capacity and necessity to strengthen communication and coordination, and work together to advance an equal and orderly multipolar world, and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.

Ladies and gentlemen, this year has also witnessed the fruitful developments of China-Northern Ireland practical cooperation in all sectors.

First, official exchanges have maintained positive momentum. Two official delegations paid successful visits to China, aiming to promote local partnerships and cooperation, and exchange views on governance experiences.

Second, economic and trade ties have been further consolidated. Local companies have expanded their business ties with their Chinese counterparts through China Import Expo in Shanghai, Canton Fairs and other economic and trade platforms. The China Alcoholic Association’s visit to Northern Ireland in May is expected to deliver more forthcoming results, with the Chinese Government’s 5% cut of its 10% tariff on imported UK whiskey products to China. The grand opening of the Chinese Superconducting Technologies in Northern Ireland last Friday on September 18, marks a new beginning of China/NI collaboration in the advanced manufacturing sector. Congrats again and I wish them all the best. We would like to see more Chinese investments like this to come in the future.

Third, education cooperation has also scored new achievements. QUB’s joint program with Jiang Nan University of China is already fully implemented from this September. And the Ulster University has set up a new Ulster Institute with Hubei Normal University, their 2nd campus in China. I wish them all the best!

Dear friends, what impressed me most this year is the vibrancy and dynamics of people-to-people exchanges between our two sides. From March to April, more than 30 teachers and students from Southwest College, and 3 local high schools from Derry/London Derry, Larne and Belfast visited China, the very first China experience for many of them, bringing back fresh cultural memories and friendship. 16 teachers, parents and kids from Milburn Primary school of Causeway County are currently visiting in Beijing. In May while the “Tea for harmony” salon here by Anhui Agricultural University at the Consulate presented a tea cultural show for local friends, Ye Xiaogang, Vice-Chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles together with Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble, brought us a fantastic concert connecting Beijing and Belfast. In late June, the first ever “Discover China Open Day” here at the Consulate General attracted more than 600 local friends to enjoy their unique engagement with the Chinese culture. During the Grand Fleadh last month, musicians from Northern Ireland and China’s Chongqing connected live by video and performed a classic Chinese Folk song together using traditional Irish instruments. The distance of more than 9000km and a 7-hour time difference cannot stand in the way of cultural exchange and mutual understanding. As Emma, a Co-Down born social media influencer who is currently living in China, said in an interview, “There is so much more to China than what we see in the media. I just hope people will just go and understand it for themselves”.

Ladies and gentlemen, as China is advancing modernization through high standard opening up and high quality development, the great potential of bilateral cooperation between China and UK/NI is yet to be further explored and unlocked. We strongly believe that, under the strategic guidance from both leaders of China and the UK, and with the joint efforts of peoples from both sides, China and UK/NI mutually beneficial cooperation will embrace an even brighter future.

Dear friends, in three days time, the Chinese traditional festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival will fall on September 25. In Chinese culture, the Moon Festival symbolizes family reunion and togetherness. Some delicious moon cakes are served to celebrate this great moment. Please enjoy it later.

Finally, may I propose a toast:

To the prosperity of both China and the United Kingdom,

To the friendship between the Chinese and Northern Irish people,

To the good health and happiness of all the friends here today!

Cheers and thank you very much!