Distinguished Acting Consul General Zeng Jianhua,

Distinguished Principal Murray Hart,

Dear Contestants and Judges,

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Dear friends,

Good morning! 

It gives me great pleasure to attend the opening ceremony of the 15th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students in Australia. On behalf of the Chinese Embassy in Australia, I would like to express my appreciation and congratulations to the 15 outstanding secondary school students who have made it to the finals. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to all the judges and members of the organizing committee for their hard work!

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Australia. Looking back, China and Australia have complemented each other through mutual learning, education cooperation and cultural and people-to-people exchanges, making many friendly and touching stories. Over the past 50 years, China has always viewed and developed China-Australia relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, and stayed committed to friendly win-win exchanges and cooperation with the Australian side. This policy remains unchanged.

Friendship between the people holds the key to good relations between countries. Mutual understanding and friendship between the younger generation of China and Australia is an important part of the foundation for sound development of our bilateral relations. China is the largest source of international students for Australia. Thousands of young Chinese students come to Australia to study, making great contributions to local education as well as economic and social development. At the same time, there are nearly 200 thousand Chinese-language learners in Australia.