Skopje, September 28, 2021

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear friends,

Good afternoon. Welcome to today's online reception and join us to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. First of all, I would like to express my deep appreciation to all distinguished guests for your presence.

October 1st this year marks the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Looking back on the glorious history of past 72 years, the Communist Party of China has united and led the Chinese people to make China's national rejuvenation a historical inevitability and make an indelible and important contribution to world peace and development.

The past 72 years has witnessed the pioneering of a great path. Socialism with Chinese characteristics is a fundamental achievement of the Communist Party of China and the people, forged through innumerable hardships and great sacrifices, and it is the right path for us to achieve national rejuvenation. The Party led the Chinese people through bloody battles and established the People’s Republic of China, after which we built an independent and relatively complete industrial system and national economic system in a relatively short period of time. This marks a great transformation of China from a poor and backward country in the East with a large population into a socialist country. Since the reform and opening up, China founded, upheld, safeguarded, and developed socialism with Chinese characteristics, making a historic transformation from a country constrained by backward productive forces to the world's second largest economy and catching up with the times with great strides .

Following the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, driving coordinated progress in material, political, cultural-ethical, social, and ecological terms. We have pioneered a new and uniquely Chinese path to modernization, and created a new model for human advancement. China’s GDP per capita has increased from tens of US dollars in the early days of New China to more than 10,000 US dollars in 2020. Chinese nation has achieved a leap from a low-income country to a low-and middle-income country, and then to a upper-middle-income country and a tremendous transformation from standing upright to becoming prosperous and growing in strength.

The past 72 years has witnessed great miracles. Since the founding of New China, especially since the Party’s 18th National Congress, China’s economic strength, scientific and technological strength, comprehensive national strength, and people’s living standards continue to reach new highs. Facing the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, we achieved major strategic results in epidemic prevention and control rapidly in solidarity, and provided anti-epidemic material assistance to more than 150 countries and 520 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 100 countries and 4 international organizations. China has achieved the poverty reduction goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule, substantially reducing the world's poverty-stricken population. China is the only major global economy which has achieved positive economic growth in 2020. The average annual GDP growth rate of China from 1979 to 2020 is 9.2%, creating miracles that shine through the annals of history.

On the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China on July 1 of this year, President Xi Jinping solemnly declared to the world that we have realized the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and brought about a historic resolution to the problem of absolute poverty in China, and we are now marching in confident strides toward the second centenary goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects. As a large developing country which accounts for nearly one-fifth of the world's population, China has built a moderately prosperous society with economic prosperity, political democracy, cultural development, social harmony, sound ecology, and people’s happiness on schedule, making an outstanding contribution to human progress.

The past 72 years has witnessed the promotion of peaceful development. China has gone through innumerable sufferings and hardships and know that peace is hard-won. At the beginning of the founding of New China, it established an independent foreign policy of peace and included the maintenance of world peace in its first constitution. It was the first country in the world to make this solemn promise. China now is the second largest contributor to United Nations regular budget and peacekeeping budget, and the largest contributor of peacekeepers among the permanent members of Security Council of the UN. China will continue to work with all peace-loving countries and peoples to promote the shared human values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom. China has been and will always be an important force in safeguarding and practicing multilateralism.

The Communist Party of China has persisted in closely associating the future of the Chinese people with that of other peoples of the world and steered the course of China's development amid the general trend of the world and the currents of the times to promote common development and prosperity of all countries. China is the only country in the world to obtain all the industrial categories listed in the United Nations industrial classification. China’s GDP in 2020 exceeded the 100-trillion-yuan threshold, reaching 101.6 trillion yuan and its share of the global economy exceeded 17%. There is an ultra-large domestic demand market formed by 1.4 billion people including more than 400 million in middle-income groups in China. China has been the largest contributor to world economic growth for 15 consecutive years since 2006, and has contributed about 30% to world economic growth for many consecutive years.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends,

In 2021 China embarks on a new journey to realizing the second centenary goal. As China enters a new development stage, we will follow a new development philosophy that is innovative, coordinated, green and open for the benefit of all, and foster a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other. By the year 2035 China will realize socialist modernization, and by the middle of the 21st century, when the People's Republic of China celebrates its centenary, China will have developed into a great and modern socialist country. For the future, the Communist Party of China will lead the Chinese people towards even more ambitious goals. The goal of China's development is to enable the Chinese people to live a better life. China will always be builders of world peace, advocates for global development, and guardians of the international order.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends,

China and North Macedonia enjoy long-standing friendship and a solid foundation of mutually beneficial cooperation. Both countries are at an important stage of development, facing huge development prospects and opportunities. The China-CEEC summit was successfully held in February this year. President Xi Jinping attended the meeting together with Prime Minister Zaev and other leaders in Central and Eastern European countries. Leaders at the meeting reached important consensus on response to the pandemic, economic recovery, etc. Now the outcomes of this summit are being implemented. China overcame domestic difficulties and provided vaccines to North Macedonia. Despite the impact of Covid-19, in the first 8 months this year, trade between our two countries reached 388 million US dollars, grew 158.9% year-on-year. China has been North Macedonia’s largest trading partner out of Europe for 10 consecutive years.

China is willing to work with North Macedonia to continue to implement the consensus reached by leaders of our two countries, maintain bilateral and multilateral communication and coordination based on mutual respect and equality, consolidate the foundation for cooperation to achieve mutual development for the benefit of people of our two countries.

Finally, please allow me to propose a toast

For the prosperity of the People’s Republic of China

For the peaceful development of the world

For the friendship between the people of China and North Macedonia

For the health and happiness of all the guests.

Cheers!