Hon. Gabriel Kapris, Minister for Works,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you very much for joining me in celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year, the Year of the Monkey. On this most happy and enjoyable occasion, I wish to extend, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy and also in my own name, our cordial holiday greetings and best wishes to the people of Papua New Guinea and our compatriots at home and abroad.

The Chinese Lunar New Year is the most important festival in China. For the Chinese people the Lunar New Year is as important as Christmas for the people in the West. It is the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar and marks the beginning of the spring, thus it is called the Spring Festival. The Spring Festival is the occasion for family reunion. No matter how far away from home, the Chinese people would try their best to get back to have the "Reunion Dinner" with the rest of the family. So tonight please make yourself at home and enjoy the "Reunion Meal".

The first group of Chinese people landed at this beautiful paradise country more than a century ago. They settled down and mixed and some of them married with the local people and lived harmoniously in one community. The Chinese of several generations in PNG have inherited and carried forward the fine tradition of the Chinese nation. Through hard work and great intelligence, they have not only improved their living conditions, but also contributed to the economic and social development of PNG. At the same time, they have done their part in promoting the friendship and cooperation between China and PNG in the fields of economy, trade and culture. They have also served as the bridge linking our two peoples together. Their achievements over the years merit my sincere admiration and congratulations.

The bilateral relations between China and PNG have made great stride in the past year. The Chinese president Hu Jintao met with Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Somare in Thailand during the APEC Informal Leaders' Meeting last year. The Chinese president expressed his appreciation of the adherence to the one China policy by the PNG government. And I'm most glad to inform you that Sir Michael is going to pay an official visit to China early next month. I'm quite confident that his visit will surely give new impetus to the sound development of our bilateral relations.

Just last week, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Mr. Zhou Wenzhong came for the 9th Annual Senior Officials' Consultation, and signed with PNG Foreign Minister Sir Rabbie Namaliu another agreement. China will provide PNG with an interest-free loan of 9 million Kina. In the trade sector, for the first eleven months of last year, our bilateral trade volume reached US$ 274 million, representing a 63% increase. There is still a great potential for the further development of the economic cooperation and trade in the years ahead.

A robust economic growth has been registered in China in the past year. China's total volume of GDP reached over US$ 1.4 trillion with an increase of 9.1%. The per capita GDP exceeded US$ 1,000 for the first time. This marked the new stage of China's economic development. Another outstanding achievement of China is the successful launching and recovery of its first manned spacecraft last October. It is a milestone in Chinese space exploration program, and it shows once again to the world the staunch spirit and wisdom of the Chinese nation. All these great successes have heightened our national spirit and made all the Chinese including our compatriots in Taiwan and those living overseas much prouder.

China's foreign policy is to maintain world peace and promote common development, as well as to serve the great cause of building China into a well-to-do society. This Embassy is totally committed to carrying out this foreign policy. We will redouble our efforts to provide good services to the Chinese in PNG. I hope we can join hands to make more contributions to China's complete reunification and rejuvenation. At the same time we will do our best to promote the further development of the friendship and cooperation between China and PNG.

Once again, I wish everyone happiness, good health and prosperity in the year of the Monkey!

Thank you and please enjoy the rest of the evening.