San Diego, September 6, 2006

Distinguished Senate Speaker Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle

Ladies and gentlemen, friends:

Good morning!

It is a great pleasure to meet with our old and new friends in the beautiful city of San Diego. Over the years our friends in the business communities have made great contributions to the development of China-Chile economic and trade relations. Here I would like to extend warm congratulations on the success of the forum, sincere greetings to our friends present at the meeting and heart-felt thanks to the organizers of the forum for their hard work.

This is my first visit to Chile. Standing on this splendid land and looking far into the distance, I am impressed by the Mountain Andes extending endlessly on the one side and the Pacific Ocean stretching to the horizon on the other side. It is the high mountain that forges the unyielding spirit and it is the vast ocean that nurtures the generosity of the Chilean people. With the relentless efforts of the industrious and intelligent Chilean people, today the comprehensive competitiveness, economic liberalization, market openness and international credit rating of Chile all rank among the best among Latin American countries. The Chinese people are deeply glad to see the achievements of the Chilean people and sincerely wish the Republic of Chile prosperous and the Chilean people happy.

Ladies and gentlemen, friends:

The sustainable and rapid economic growth of China, the largest developing country in the world, draws attention from all around the world, including an increasing number of Chilean friends. I would like to take this opportunity to briefly introduce China's economic and social progress to all of you.

China is one of the ancient civilizations in the world. In the more than 5,000 years of history of development, all the ethnic groups of the Chinese people have created splendid cultures and made remarkable contributions to the progress of human civilizations. After 1840 China once suffered from invasion of the imperialist powers and plunged into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. The Chinese people fought fearlessly for the national independence, liberation of the people, democracy and freedom. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people founded the People's Republic of China in 1949, realizing the greatest and most fundamental social evolution in the Chinese history and opening the broad way for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.