Faculty Members, Students,

Ladies and gentlemen, Friends,

Good afternoon!

It is not long before I came to Ghana and assumed the office of Chinese Ambassador that I attend with great delight the Anniversary Celebration of the Confucius Institute of the University of Ghana. On behalf of the Chinese Embassy, I would like to extend the warmest congratulations to the Confucius Institute in Ghana for this event and most sincere gratitude towards all the relevant departments and warm-hearted friends of both the Chinese and Ghanaian sides. The Chinese teachers of Confucius Institute and teachers sent by the National Office for Teaching Chinese and Foreign Language (NOCFL), you have my highest respect.

This morning I attended the Ghanaian preliminary contest of the 13th "Chinese Bridge" Competition. All competitors were high-spirited and did give an excellenct show. Their Chinese and their understanding of Chinese culture are beyond my imagination. The competition was very successful, and to all the students, congratulations!

I have something to share with all competitors and lovers of the Chinese language present today.

First, Chinese is one of the most beautiful languages in the world, therefore worthy of learning. Chinese character, the written form of the Chinese language, is the only one still in use today of the three ancient writing systems. It can be dated back to 8000 years ago. The Chinese calligraphy is art and a precious cultural heritage. The works of ancient Chinese calligraphers are very competitive products in the international art market. Every Chinese character is sound and meaning combined so that a single word or a very short sentence can mean a thousand things. The Book of Songs, the Songs of the Chu, the poetry of the Tang Dynasty, the verses of the Song Dynasty and the dramas of the Yuan Dynasty have both beautiful artistic conceptions and deep meanings. Leaders across the world have on many occasions quoted set phrases of Chinese idioms and classical allusions. The year before last, the well-renowned Chinese writer Mr. Mo Yan won the Nobel Literature Prize, which constitutes a new mark that the Chinese language and literature have been recognized by the world. Nowadays, more than 40 million people in the world are learning Chinese.

Second, the Chinese civilization is one of the most time-honored civilizations in the world, therefore worthy of studying. China boasts a history of over 5000 years. More than 2000 years ago, there were over 100 masters' schools with Confucius, Mencius and Mozi as the leading figures. They proposed an extensive and profound thinking system of the unity and interaction between the Heaven, the Earth and humanity. As the most outstanding master, Confucius was not only a thinker, but also a great politician. As a thinker, he founded the school of Confucianism, which becomes the backbone of the traditional Chinese culture. The Chinese civilization, in its process of development, has assimilated achievements of other outstanding civilizations in the world, but the Chinese value system is always marked by Confucianism, with the five virtues of "kindness, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness" passing from one generation to the next. As a politician, Confucius dreamed of building "a world of Datong", which means a harmonious world. China today has inherited and developed this concept, and proposed the path of peaceful development which features the strategy of mutually-beneficial win-win cooperation and the promotion of a harmonious world.

Third, China is one of the greatest countries in the world, therefore worthy of cognizing. Several thousand years before the Industrial Revolution, China had always ranked first in the fields of economy, science and culture in the world. Since the modern times, due to the corruption and ignorance of the feudal ruling class, China had subdued into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. The founding of the New China under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949 turned a new page for the resilient endeavor of the Chinese nation. After over 30 years of Reform and Opening-up, China has achieved historic progress, with her economy ranking second largest in the world. However, we are fully aware that as a country with a population as large as 1.3 billion, no matter how big the aggregate of the economy is, China's per capita GDP is about the 80th in the world. Our road ahead is long before we can have all the 1.3 billion people enjoy a good life. Having sized up the present situation, the new leadership of China with Mr. Xi Jinping as the party general secretary proposed the great blueprint of the Chinese Dream for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the all-round strategy of deepening the Reform. With the steady promotion of the Chinese Dream and the in-depth development of the Reform, China will continue to see more changes and bring more new opportunities of development for the whole world.

Faculty Members, Students,

China regards Africa as a colorful polar of the human civilization. Cultural communication and interaction is one of the three pillars of the new type strategic partnership between China and Africa. A few days ago, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang completed his visit to four African countries. At the headquarters of the African Union, Premier Li proposed the new framework for China-Africa cooperation, of which one of the highlights is the promotion of cultural communication and cooperation with Africa. For this, the Chinese side has proposed several brand projects such as the "China-Africa Cultural Cooperation Partnership", the "China-Africa People-to-People Friendly Action". We will set up more Chinese Culture Centers and Confucius Institutes in Africa to promote cooperation in science and education, strengthen professional training and help African countries improve their human resources. We will encourage more and more Chinese to take a trip to Africa and welcome more African friends to travel to China for sightseeing, studying and investing. Chinese Premier Li made up a vivid metaphor---economic cooperation and humanity communication are the two wheels to drive the China-Africa cooperation. Only when the two wheels are actuated together will the China-Africa cooperation enter the fast track, and the China-Africa cooperation have a brighter and broader future.

In recent years, China and Ghana have conducted excellent cooperation in humanity communication. At present, Ghana has the largest number of self-financed overseas students among African countries studying in China, and every year China offers Ghana a big number of scholarships for advance studies. The number of Ghanaian professionals trained in China ranks third among African countries. Last year saw the founding of Confucius Institute in Ghana, the opening of a Chinese Books Window in the National Library of Ghana, the launch of the Brand "Joyous Spring Festival", the partnership will to humanity communication and cooperation reached between the Culture, Broadcasting and News Bureau of the Chinese City of Nanjing and the Department for Tourism and Culture of Ghana. All these have contributed much to boosting the humanity communication and cooperation between our two countries. But we should be fully aware that the potential for the humanity cooperation is still to be explored, and we should put more efforts into driving the "Wheel" of humanity cooperation faster and faster so that it would match the speed of the "Wheel" of economic cooperation.

Confucius Institute is a bridge for Chinese people and people all over the world to exchange, communicate with and understand each other. Since the Confucius Institute Program began in 2004, we have founded over 400 institutes in countries and regions of 5 continents. On its first anniversary, I sincerely hope the Confucius Institute in Ghana would deliberate on the situation, sum up the experiences and make up a new work plan. We should continue to improve the Chinese teaching standard in Ghana, hold more colorful public activities, and strengthen exchange of experiences and sharing of resources. We should consolidate the cooperation base and blaze new trails so as to keep the momentum of the current craze for Mandarin and the "Sinomania", and make the humanity communication between China and Ghana even more heated. As the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, I would make my personal contribution to this cause.

At last, I wish a full success of today's celebration and hope the development of the Confucius Institute scale new heights!

Thank you!