Esteemed Deputy Mayor Marina Krstic,

Esteemed Director Sašo Ilkovski,

Musicians of the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra,

Distinguished Guests,

Good Evening!

It is a great pleasure to join you for the China Night of the 56th Republic Festival of Folk Songs and Dances "Ilinden Days". I wish to thank the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra for coming all the way from China across mountains and seas. I also extend my appreciation to Director Sašo Ilkovski and his professional team of NI Cultural Center-Bitola for their dedicated efforts to make tonight’s concert possible.

Less than six months after the successful visit and performance by a Chinese Sichuan Opera troupe in Bitola earlier this year, this cultural hub once again welcomes an artistic delegation from China. Notably, both troupes chose Bitola as their premiere venue, underscoring the city’s prominence in the eyes of Chinese artists. It is particularly significant that this visiting orchestra comes from Ningbo, sister city of Bitola, adding special meaning to tonight’s concert.

Bitola and Ningbo have enjoyed a sister-city relationship for over a decade. As the second-largest city in North Macedonia and a historic cultural center in the southwest, Bitola boasts profound cultural heritage where diverse cultures converge. Ningbo, a major coastal port in southeast China and the second-largest city in Zhejiang Province, has served as a gateway for foreign exchange and trade since the Tang and Song dynasties, standing as a key port along the Maritime Silk Road. Today, as the permanent host city of the China-CEEC Expo, Ningbo serves as a crucial window for promoting bilateral exchanges and cooperation across various sectors.

In recent years, cultural and people-to-people exchanges between Bitola and Ningbo—and between our two nations—have flourished, yielding fruitful results. In 2025, the Bitola International Graphic Triennial was successfully held in both cities for the first time under a "cross-border joint exhibition" format. This year alone, dozens of representatives from various sectors in Bitola have visited China for study tours or training programs. Dozens of university students from Bitola have been awarded the Chinese Ambassador Scholarship. Next month, Dimitar Atnasovski from University St. Kliment Ohridski-Bitola will travel to China for a summer camp. This October, we will debut the China-North Macedonia Film Festival in Bitola. Meanwhile, bilateral trade between Ningbo and North Macedonia grew by 21.4% year-on-year, with imports of mechanical and electrical products from North Macedonia exceeding 20 million yuan (about $3 million). Ningbo-based Joyson Electronics has invested in a local factory, creating over 1,300 local jobs.

These success stories serve as vivid examples of the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation between China and Europe gaining solid traction. To date, China’s trade in goods with BRI partner countries has surpassed $5 trillion, lifting over 40 million people out of poverty, creating more than 400,000 local jobs, and delivering tangible benefits to over 150 countries. Together, we are forging a path of cooperation, opportunity, and prosperity leading to common development.

Over the past decade, the China-Europe Railway Express has operated more than 130,000 freight trains, with a total value exceeding $520 billion, reaching over 100 Chinese cities and multiple European countries. In the past two months alone, this "steel caravan" traversed the Eurasian continent to deliver 100,000 air conditioning units to Europe, opening a "cool channel" to help local communities cope with heatwaves.

Friends, China has established over 3,000 pairs of sister-city relationships with counterparts in more than 150 countries, playing a vital role in deepening mutually beneficial cooperation, fostering people-to-people bonds, and achieving common development. Kinship deepens through frequent visits; friendship grows through constant contact. We hope Bitola and Ningbo will leverage their sister-city ties to further enrich cultural exchanges, deepen practical cooperation, and consolidate the foundations of friendship, thereby injecting fresh vitality into the sustained, sound, and stable growth of bilateral relations.

I wish tonight’s concert a great success! Thank you!