Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends,

It gives me great pleasure to celebrate together with you China’s traditional Mid-Autumn Festival and the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

In the past 72 years, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and with concerted efforts, the Chinese people have created development miracles rarely seen in the world, making China an important engine of the world economy, contributing over 30% of the global growth for more than a decade in a row. In 2020, China’s economic aggregate reached a new high of over 100 trillion RMB yuan or US$14.7 trillion, maintaining its position as the world’s second largest economy and the largest trader of goods.

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese government has given top priority to the health and safety of the people and rallied the entire nation behind it to fight and defeat the virus, achieving a strategic victory in epidemic prevention and control.

We have also won the battle against poverty accomplishing the arduous task of eliminating absolute poverty as scheduled, and completed the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects in fulfillment of our first centenary goal.

China is now in its best time of development. Seize the day, seize the hour. We are building on the momentum to reach our full potential and have embarked on a new journey to build a modern socialist country in all respects. The bugle has been sounded for the march toward our second centenary goal and we are in an inexorable process to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

In this new stage of development, we will put into practice the new development philosophy and build a new paradigm of development to achieve quality growth; we will stay committed to deepening reform and opening wider to the outside world to create a top-notch business environment. We believe China’s continued development will generate more opportunities for the rest of the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This year marks the centenary of the Communist Party of China. Over the past 100 years, the CPC, after pulling through all the difficulties and hardships and making huge sacrifices, led the Chinese people to the founding of the People’s Republic of China and blazed the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics -- a right path of development for China that has enabled us to achieve industrialization, built the world’s second largest economy and largest social security and health care systems.

Over the past 100 years, China has been transformed from a poor and weak country, on the verge of collapse and at the mercy of imperialist powers, into an independent and prosperous nation on track to realize national rejuvenation. It has stood up, become rich and is growing stronger in historic leaps forward.

The secret of the CPC’s success lies in its unwavering commitment to its founding aspiration to pursue a better life for the people and achieve national rejuvenation. Over the past 100 years, no matter what has happened and what difficulties and challenges may lie ahead, the Party has always put the people’s fundamental interests first, sharing weal and woe with them and working relentlessly to provide them with a better livelihood. Under the leadership of the Party, the 1.4 billion Chinese people have got rid of absolute poverty for the first time in China’s thousands of years of history and started to enjoy a happy and secure life. This is the biggest human right ensured and the best success story of democracy of our times. That is the key to the CPC’s success.

While dedicating itself to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the Communist Party of China has been working consistently for peace and progress of mankind. The Chinese culture “values peace as the most precious” and believes in “harmony without conformity” and “peaceful coexistence”. China always maintains that all countries, regardless of their size, wealth or strength, are equal members of the international community, and should live in harmony with mutual respect and pursue common development through win-win cooperation. Since the founding of the People’s Republic, China has never provoked a single war or occupied a single inch of foreign territory. Nor has it ever imposed its own will and development path on others. The goal of China’s development is not to displace or defeat anyone, but to enable its people to lead a better life through hard work and make greater contributions to the world. China’s development is an opportunity to the world, not a challenge or threat.

In this globalized world where countries are increasingly interconnected and traditional and non-traditional issues intertwined, the fate and future of all countries are linked up like never before. China believes that global governance should be carried out by all countries together on the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. We need to pull together to meet global challenges of all kinds and make our world an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful place with enduring peace, universal security and common prosperity. China will unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development and the win-win strategy of opening up, and actively build global partnerships. We will always be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global growth and a defender of international order and work together with people of all other countries to build a community with shared future for mankind.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

China-U.S. relations are one of the most consequential bilateral relationships in the world today. As the largest developing and developed country respectively, China and the U.S. have shared responsibility for maintaining world peace and stability and promoting global prosperity and development. As President Xi Jinping pointed out in his phone conversation with President Biden on September 10, whether China and the U.S. can handle their relationship well bears on the future of the world, and it is the question of the century to which the two countries must provide a good answer. China and the U.S. need to show broad vision, shoulder great responsibility, look ahead and move forward with strategic courage and political resolve to bring China-U.S. relations back to the right track of stable development, for the good of the people in both countries and the world at large.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Sub-national exchanges and cooperation are part and parcel of China-U.S. relations, in which the Midwest has always played an important role. More than 80 years ago, Edgar Snow, a progressive journalist from Kansas City, introduced, for the first time ever, the ideals and stories of the Communist Party of China to the American people and people around the world.

Fifty years ago, the Midwestern State of Michigan witnessed how the small ball of table tennis moved the big ball of U.S.-China relations in the historic Ping-Pong diplomacy.

In the 1980s, Mr. Xi Jinping, the then Party Secretary of Zhengding County of Hebei Province, led a delegation to Iowa where he forged profound friendship with the local people, which has become a much-told story about sub-national and people-to-people exchanges between China and the U.S.

History tells us that sub-national exchanges have been a source of strength and lubricant for China-U.S. relations. I wish to take this opportunity to thank people from all walks of life in the Midwest for your long-standing interest in and support for the development of Sino-U.S. relations. Going forward, we in the Chinese Consulate General in Chicago will continue to work with people of all sectors in the Midwest to further strengthen dialogue and exchanges, enhance win-win cooperation and deepen mutual understanding and trust between our two sides in line with the common will of the two peoples, and make good contributions to the common development and prosperity of China and the U.S. and the sound development of bilateral relations.

I would like to conclude my speech by wishing my great motherland prosperity and strength and the Chinese people well-being and happiness.

May the friendship between the Chinese and American people last forever and China-U.S. relations continue to grow steadily.

May all our friends enjoy good health and happiness.

Thank you!