Members of the faculty,

Students,

Let me first thank the Department of International Relations for inviting me back to the University of Malta. Being on such a charming campus, a place steeped in culture and brimming with youthfulness makes me feel young too.

I recall that when I was a university student, there was a particular type of songs called campus folk in China. They sing about the unforgettable life on campus and young people’s expectation for the future. The tunes are still fresh in my mind.

In the past 30 years since graduation, I, as a career diplomat, have been to many places. Yet wherever I go, I have never lost touch with my teachers and fellow schoolmates. I know without them, without their teaching, their help, their encouragement, I would not be where I am today.

I feel so excited today to be back on campus and talk to you face-to-face, and I hope what I am about to say will help you learn more about China and its diplomacy in the new era.

As you may know, the Communist Party of China held its 19th National Congress in October last year. A major political conclusion was drawn at the Congress that the country has entered a new era in building socialism with Chinese characteristics. The principal challenge facing Chinese society has shifted to one between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life.

A leading US newspaper perceived the key concept “new era” as one signaling the determination of the leadership of the Communist Party of China to steer the country and its people toward the goal of becoming strong.

The new era means the Chinese nation is making great strides from standing up, getting rich to becoming strong.

The new era means the Chinese nation is ushering in the bright prospects of rejuvenation.

The new era means the Chinese nation is further developing the road, theories, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics, providing an alternative choice for countries and nations keen to achieve fast development and keep its independence, and contributing Chinese wisdom and ideas to tackling the problems facing humanity.

China and its diplomacy can be best viewed in this broad context of the new era.

China is a country with a long history yet full of vigor and vitality.

Since modern times, the Chinese people have been dedicated to the pursuit of national renewal and prosperity. The new era is hence about the quest of an ancient nation of dignity, a peace-loving oriental power with renewed vitality, for a better life of its people and of humanity.

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, and especially since the launch of the reform and opening up program in 1978, the Chinese people have stayed focused on the development of their country. Today’s China has become the world’s second largest economy, the biggest trading nation and the second largest source of outbound investment.

China’s per capita GDP has surged from 300 US dollars in 1987 to the current over 9,000 US dollars, an expansion of 30 times. The additional economic activity that its GDP growth generated in 2017 was equal to the total annual GDP of Australia or Spain.

Some 13 million people in China are lifted out of poverty on an average annual basis, equivalent to the total population of a middle-sized European country. Poverty head count has been brought down below 4%. This is no less than a miracle in the human history of poverty reduction and, in my view, it is also China’s biggest contribution to the global cause of protecting human rights.

More importantly, the Chinese economy is shifting from a growth mode driven by export, manufacturing and investment to one that is more sustainable led by the service sector, consumption and innovation. The new economy and new industries empowered by the internet have become a strong engine of growth.

At the plenary sessions of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference held last month, a new Chinese leadership was elected. Key theoretical conclusions and policies adopted at the 19th CPC National Congress were incorporated into the Constitution through an amendment.

To meet the new demand in the new era, China will focus on tackling the challenge of unbalanced and inadequate development to improve the quality and efficiency of development. Our goal is to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020. And beyond that, in a two-step timeframe, we aim to basically achieve modernization by 2035, and turn China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful by the middle of this century.

Responding to the call of times and the needs of the people, this blueprint encapsulates China’s commitment to making all-round progress and to delivering concrete gains to the people.

China is a country valuing tradition yet staying open and inclusive.

“Harmony” is the most valued tenet in Chinese culture. Confucianism, a philosophy spanning 2,000 years of Chinese history, all along advocates a world of common good for all, believing that no one should do to others what he wouldn’t like himself. And the Chinese character for “force”, as in “military force”, is formed with two parts meaning “stop” and “weaponry” respectively, conveying the message that a power should only use its key resources for peace.

Based on its cultural heritage and in view of the realities both past and present, China in this new era will remain committed to peaceful development, stay on the course of reform and opening-up, and seek common prosperity with the rest of the world.

China’s development doesn’t jeopardize or exclude anyone. All are welcome to get on the fast train of China’s development. According to the IMF and the World Bank, between 2013 and 2017, China contributed over 30% to global growth each year, the highest in the world and more than that of the United States, the Euro zone and Japan combined. China has become the engine and anchor for sustained global economic growth.

China will open wider to the world. A week ago at the Boao Forum for Asia, President Xi Jinping announced that China will adopt a series of new major measures to pursue further opening, including broadening market access, creating a more attractive investment environment, strengthening IPR protection and taking the initiative to expand imports.

China has recently significantly opened up the banking, insurance, securities and fund management businesses, and lowered import tariffs on nearly 200 types of consumer goods.

In November this year, China will hold the first international import expo in Shanghai. It will be the world’s first large expo focused on import, and it is China’s key initiative to further open its market to the world.

Based on its new position in the global economic landscape, China will gradually shift from a major exporter and FDI recipient to a large market and major investor. This will facilitate balanced development of China itself, and the recovery and re-balancing of the world economy.

China is a country standing for justice and fairness with a keen sense of its due responsibilities.

Our world today is undergoing transformational change and adjustments. On the one hand, world multi-polarity, economic globalization, IT application, and cultural diversity continue to develop. Countries are becoming more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. And peace and development remain the call of the day.

Yet, on the other hand, the world is also facing growing uncertainties and destabilizing factors. Wealth disparities are getting worse; regional hotspots keep flaring up; unconventional security threats like terrorism, cybercrimes and climate change continue to spread.

Global problems call for global solutions. No one can meet those challenges alone and self-seclusion will only make one fall behind.

In view of this historical background, China, at the 19th CPC National Congress, set the following goal for its diplomacy in the new era: China will endeavor to foster a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation, and build a community with a shared future for mankind.

What is this new type of international relations about?

First, it is about respect for the right of people of all countries to choose their own development path. There needs to be equality among all countries regardless of their size, strength and wealth. And the “law of the jungle” must be rejected.

Second, it is about greater democracy in international relations. Global issues need to be addressed by consultation and collaboration among all. China opposes hegemony and power politics, and will never seek hegemony itself.

Third, it is about closer cooperation and common prosperity. Partnerships, as the right pathway to sound state-to-state relations, should prevail over military alliance or zero-sum game.

In 2015, while attending the 70th session of the UN general assembly, President Xi Jinping set forth the initiative of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

This initiative calls on all members of the international community to jointly build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity.

The initiative is supported by a number of concrete measures covering debt relief, funding, peacekeeping and free assistance.

Take peacekeeping as an example. As the largest troop contributing country among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, China has sent more than 35,000 peacekeepers to 24 UN peacekeeping operations, earning the international acclaim of “a major contributor to UN peacekeeping operations”.

Building a community with a shared future for mankind is a new global perspective on global issues and is China’s response to the call of this globalized age. The initiative has attracted keen and wide interest, and is an important part of China’s effort in fulfilling its responsibility as a major country.

To apply this vision for a global community, China has deepened cooperation with other countries under the Belt and Road framework in keeping with the principle of planning together, building together and benefiting together.

Since the Belt and Road initiative was proposed in 2013, China has signed cooperation agreements with more than 80 countries and organizations, and set up 75 economic and trade cooperation zones in the countries along the routes. Chinese companies have invested over 60 billion US dollars in those countries, and created nearly 200,000 local jobs. The Belt and Road initiative has become the most popular public good in today’s world.

Members of the faculty,

Students,

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership and the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up.

In the past 15 years, both China and Europe have benefited tremendously from this growing bilateral relationship, a relationship that has contributed to global peace and prosperity. New headway has been made in the China-EU partnership for peace, growth, reform and progress of civilization. Practical cooperation has been booming and people-to-people exchange flourishing. As EU High Representative Ms. Federica Mogherini said, “EU-China cooperation has never been so important, in a moment when multilateral global governance is put in question from many sides."

The annual trade volume between China and the EU is nearly 600 billion US dollars. The EU has long been China's largest trading partner and source of imports. China has been the EU's second largest trading partner, the largest source of imports and the second largest export market.

With the joint efforts of both sides, the Belt and Road initiative and Europe's development strategies are well complementing each other. China has signed with 11 EU member states BRI cooperation documents at the governmental level. In 2017 alone, the China-Europe express freight trains travelling across the vast Eurasian continent made 3,673 trips, up by 116% from 2016, exceeding the sum total in the past six years. Their transport services reached 36 cities in 13 European countries and make the flow of goods between China and Europe much easier.

A great number of cooperation projects are well underway covering infrastructure, logistics, ports, e-commerce and finance, bringing tangible benefits to the local people. The Brussels-based economic think tank Bruegel estimated that Belt and Road initiative may have added 6% to the EU's foreign trade.

Admittedly, China and Europe have some differences. However, both sides recognize the need for a constructive approach by putting oneself in others’ shoes and by being more open-minded and understanding. The trade frictions you may have read about in the media only account for a very small portion of the bilateral relationship, and win-win cooperation remains the mainstay and underlying trend of China-EU relations.

Moreover, China and Europe are natural partners on global governance. We both believe in an open world economy; we both advocate multilateralism; we both recognize the need to advance global climate governance; and we both stand for a broader and deeper bilateral relationship at the strategic and global level.

China follows a consistent EU policy in spite of the various uncertainties in Europe. China sees Europe as its important strategic partner, and is a firm supporter of the European integration process and of a united, stable and prosperous EU with an even bigger role in international affairs. Likewise, we hope the EU will respect the Chinese people’s choice of the development path, respect China’s core interests and major concerns, and view China’s development in an objective and rational light.

Members of the faculty,

Students,

Though I have not been in Malta for that long – less than two years, I have developed a deep affection for Malta and the people here.

No matter how the international landscape may evolve, China-Malta relations have stayed vibrant for the past 46 years since our two countries established diplomatic ties. With mutual respect and close cooperation, our two countries have set an example of harmonious coexistence between countries different in landmass, size of population, cultural heritage and social system.

Our practical cooperation has been going from strength to strength. The project of Shanghai Electric alone involves an investment of 300 million euros, the largest FDI project in Malta so far. It has considerably boosted local power supply, made power generation with heavy fuel history, and delivered genuine win-win results.

People-to-people exchange is also booming. The China Cultural Center in Valletta, and the Traditional Chinese Medicine Center and the Confucius Institute located on this campus are all highly popular among the local communities. They help bring our two peoples closer, and have also contributed to the mutual learning between Chinese and Western civilizations. Today, China-Malta relationship is standing at a new historic starting point, and is blessed with important opportunities for stronger growth.

Members of the faculty,

Students,

Diplomacy is a noble cause. I hope no matter what you choose to do upon graduation, being a career diplomat or a research fellow, working for the government or NGO, or for a multilateral institution, you would always cherish such a common goal: To beat the swords into ploughshares, to prevent the horror of war of ever being repeated, and to make justice, equity and prosperity prevail in the world.

An old Chinese adage says, “Victory is ensured when all pool their strength; success is secured when all pool their wisdom.” I am confident when we all work together to share opportunities and meet challenges, we will make the world a better place.

Thank you.