Most Hon. Governor General and Lady Cooke,

Mr. Sam Wong Chen Onn, President of the Jamaica China Friendship Association,

Leaders of the Jamaican Chinese Communities,

Ms. Beverley Lopez, president of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It's really a pleasure of my wife and I to have so many friends getting together tonight to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. First of all, please accept my sincere thanks to the host of this dinner, Mr. Sam Wong Chen Onn, President of the Jamaica China Friendship Association.

I should also give my special thanks to the Most Honorable the Governor General and Lady Cooke. Your gracious presence at the national day reception hosted by my wife and I is still a fresh memory for all of us. And tonight, being able to celebrate this occasion with the distinguished fellow Chinese, Lady Cooke, and the best son-in-law of the Chinese people, we could all feel the genuine friendship between the Jamaican people and the Chinese people.

Genuine friendship, indeed! For 150 years, the Jamaican Chinese community has been encouraged by this friendship to settle down and contribute their talents to the process of nation building of Jamaica, while fulfilling the traditional Chinese ethnic of "valuing harmony as a great treasure", made itself an example of the national motto of Jamaica: "Out of many, one people". For 32 years since the establishment of diplomatic relation, China and Jamaica have both realized that, although half of the world apart, they are friends from heart to heart. And for me, in each and every day of the 18 months of my stay in Jamaica so far, I have been embraced by the warmth and friendship which propelled me to work even harder, together with my Jamaican colleagues and the active local Chinese community, for more fruitful cooperation and consolidated relationship.

I am the eyewitness of the rapid progress of the bilateral relations between China and Jamaica of the past 2 years. Here I would like to give you just one example to show you the vistas of our cooperation. Next February, the first China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum will be held in Kingston with the co-sponsorship of the Chinese government and the Jamaican government. Trade ministers and business leaders of Caribbean countries will gather in Kingston to find economic cooperation and trade opportunities with China. China will also send a high level delegation and huge trade mission consists of 150 entrepreneurs here and put up a Chinese Commodities Exhibition. I am convinced that the forum will no doubt lead the Sino-Jamaican relations to a new lever and eventually greatly benefit the Chinese and Jamaican peoples. So the year of 2005 must mean something good for all of us.

Please allow me to say some words of thanks to the leaders of the Chinese communities. Without your assistance and support, the exchanges between China and Jamaica in fields like culture, education, sports, etc. will never be carried out so smoothly.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

China is an ancient country with more than 5,000 years of history and had created a splendid civilization. However, in the course of modern history, the Chinese people have met with many disasters and missed some rare opportunities for development. It is the founding of the People's Republic of China that ushered China into a new era of surging vitality and creativity. Through the past 55 years of arduous endeavors, China has scored great success in obtaining a sustained and rapid economic growth, marked increase in the overall national strength, steady improvement of the living standards and constant betterment of its international standing. Working for peace and prosperity, China and Jamaica will remain great friends on the road to realizing happy life for the peoples of the two countries and enriching the world's diverse civilizations.

Now, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to invite you to join me in a toast

To the growing prospect of China,

To the constant development of China-Jamaica relations and

To the health of all friends present tonight.

Cheers!