Excellency Dr. Mifsud Bonnici, President Emeritus of Malta,

Mr. Michael Fenech, Chairman of St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity,

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening!

Tonight, I must say that it is kind of special to me because back in 2006 when I was the Ambassador of China to Bangladesh, I had the honor and pleasure to inaugurate the same exhibition. I am happy to see the exhibition coming here to Malta. On behalf of the Chinese Embassy, I would like to express my warm welcome and sincere thanks to all of you present here for the opening.

I guess that some of you may wonder who Zheng He was and what he did to deserve such respect and admiration. To shed some light, I want to talk about him briefly and leave you to read the exhibition in details later on. As is known to all, in the 15th century, the great geographical discovery of Columbus brought about a new epoch for mankind. However, 80 years before this discovery and in the year of 1405, a magnificent fleet of some 200 sailing ships, led by a Chinese, utilized the most advanced nautical technology of his time and made seven western maritime expeditions, starting from Yangtze River in China, crossing Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean into the Asian and African regions, and reaching as far west as the Red Sea and the east coast of Africa. Their footprints had been left in more than 30 Asian and African countries and regions. And the person leading the fleet was Admiral Zheng He in China's Ming Dynasty who lived between 1371 and 1435.

Unlike most other maritime explorations, Zheng He's fleet didn't occupy any land for settlement or colony nor engage themselves in any slave trafficking along their route. Carrying on the ships the silk, porcelain and tea and with an aspiration for peace and friendship, Zheng He's fleet conducted maritime trade and cultural exchanges on his way. In each of the countries he visited, Zheng He was also actively engaged in exchanges in other areas including religion, calendar development, architecture, medicine, navigation, and shipbuilding. Zheng He learned from other civilizations while spreading Chinese culture and making friends with peoples of other countries. The significance of Zheng He's voyages lies not only in the fact that he blazed a trail in the history of navigation but also the contribution he had made in promoting the progress of human civilization and peaceful coexistence of nations.

Nowadays, in spite of the tremendous changes taking place in China compared to the era of Zheng He's time, the essence of Zheng He's voyages- peace, harmony, friendship and cooperation-and the essence of the Chinese culture have never ever been changed.

Although Zheng He's fleet never came to Malta which I bet he would have loved to if he knew about this amazing island, I am pleased to see this exhibition coming here to the heart of the Mediterranean and the hub of the Mediterranean maritime activities. China has always been proud of the sound relations with Malta since the establishment of diplomatic ties over 36 years ago. A very good example I want to give is the construction of "the Dry Dock", one of the biggest in the Mediterranean, which is amicably called by our Maltese friends as "the Red Dock". Nowadays, a lot of ships come and go through Malta, not only Chinese but also ships from across the world. The once indomitable sea has been tamed to serve for the good of the mankind. In this regard, I feel that Zheng He, along with navigators all over the world, should be thanked for their deeds in braving the challenges of the natural world. At the same time, I hope that through Zheng He and the exhibition, our Maltese people can get to know the enterprising and peace-loving values that have always been the foundation of the Chinese culture.

Before I conclude, I would like to recommend a book entitled "1421 The Year China Discovered the World" written by Gavin Menzies, a retired Royal Navy Submarine Commander, which provided a lot of interesting evidence about Zheng He's voyages.

Finally, I wish to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Mifsud Bonnici