Dear judges and contestants,
Dear teachers, students and friends，

Good afternoon!

I am very pleased to attend today’s “Chinese Bridge” Awards Ceremony. First of all, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you. Welcome to the Chinese Embassy.

This year’s “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition in India has come to the end. I would like to extend my congratulations on the full success of the event, and especially, my congratulations to students Oinam Thoithoi Chanu and Juee Vaidya, for winning the championship in the college category and the first prize in the secondary school category! I would also like to give a thumb-up to all the students who participated in the preliminaries and finals of the “Chinese Bridge” in India. Your outstanding performance is amazing! I would like to take this opportunity to pay high respects to teachers who teach Chinese in India, and extend my heartfelt thanks to the school leaders and friends from all walks of life who support Chinese language education!

Language is the carrier of civilization and culture and a bridge to enhance friendship between peoples. Since 2010, the United Nations has celebrated “Chinese Language Day” every year. More than 180 countries and regions around the world have introduced Chinese language education and 83 countries have included Chinese in their national education systems. More than 30 million people abroad are learning Chinese. Chinese language has played an important role in helping more and more people learn Chinese history and culture, understand China and Chinese people.

For thousands of years,“世界大同、天下一家”(everyone belongs to one and the same family in a harmonious world) has been the aspiration of the Chinese nation, and that’s why the theme of “Chinese Bridge”Competition is“One World, One Family”. Over 2,000 years ago, an ancient Chinese classic《礼记》“The Book of Rites”mentioned “圣人耐以天下为一家”, which means wise people take the whole world as one family. Ancient Chinese philosophers advocated 民胞物与“affinity between all people and all creatures”，协和万邦“peace among all nations”and天下大同“harmony under Heaven”. They believed nature are the great parents, and all the people are brothers. They held that harmony in family should be extended to harmony in society and harmony among different nations, so that the whole world all people share and live in becomes a harmonious one.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has put forward the innovative concept of 人类命运共同体“a community with a shared future for mankind” from the idea of “One World, One Family”. He pointed out that“the destiny and future of each and every individual, nation and country are interlocked. We should stick together through thick and thin, build our planet into a harmonious big family, and realize mankind’s dream for a better life. ”

At present, changes in the world, in our times and in history are unfolding in ways like never before. The exchanges and mutual learning, the development and progress of human civilization are facing increasingly severe challenges. Food and energy crises are acute. The North-South divide is widening. The Cold War mentality and ideological confrontation are on the rise. Unilateralism and power politics have seriously affected world peace and stability. Human society is also facing global challenges such as environmental degradation, terrorism, cyber security and biosecurity. President Xi pointed out that“To meet our common challenges and create a better future, we look to culture and civilization to play their role, which is as important as the role played by economy, science and technology.”

Dear Friends,

Both China and India are ancient civilizations with a long history and splendid culture. The long history of friendly exchanges between our two countries has become a model of exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations. Nearly two thousand years ago, Indian monks Dharmaratna and Kasyapa Matanga came to China with scriptures on white horses, kicking off the spread of Buddhism to the east. Chinese eminent monks such as Faxian, Xuanzang, and Yijing traveled westward to seek the Dharma. They collected, copied, and translated a large number of Buddhist classics. Along the ancient Silk Road, Chinese paper-making, silk, porcelain, and tea were brought to India, and Indian singing, dancing, astronomy, architecture and spices were introduced in China. The exchanges and mutual learning between the two civilizations have made great contributions to the development of civilizations in both countries and the entire world.

In 1924, the great Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore went to China and visited seven cities including Beijing and Shanghai in 49 days. He had extensive exchanges with Chinese political, educational and literary communities on philosophy and life,  inspired young people to face the real world and their own responsibilities, and called for justice and peace. Later, he invited Chinese scholar Tan Yunshan to India, and co-founded the Department of Chinese Language & Culture (Cheena Bhavana) to promote Chinese language education. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Tagore’s visit to China. To commemorate his contribution to promoting exchanges and cooperation between China and India, China has held a series of commemorative events. Today we are also holding a photo exhibition to commemorate this far-reaching cultural journey.

Dear Friends,

China and India are two largest emerging markets and developing countries with a huge population. Both countries have entered a critical stage of development and revitalization. A sound and stable China-India relationship is in the common interests of both countries and will contribute to regional and global peace and development. Since last year, the two countries have maintained high-level communication and interactions. Bilateral trade in 2023 reached 136.2 billion US dollars, and China once again becomes India’s largest trading partner. The two sides are highly complementary economically with huge development potential.

President Xi Jinping said, if China and India speak with one voice, the whole world will listen, if the two countries join hands, the whole world will pay attention. Seventy years ago, China and India agreed to adopt the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence as the basic principles guiding their bilateral relations, and called for their adoption as the norms governing international relations. The Five Principles have been accepted by most countries in the world and made indelible contributions to maintaining peace and stability in Asia and the world and promoting the sound development of international relations.

President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi have made important judgment that the China and India are“cooperation partners, not competitors”and reached an important common understanding that“China and India are each other’s development opportunities, not threats”, providing important guidance for the bilateral relations. China is ready to work with India to follow the important consensus reached by our two leaders and the spirit of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, enhance political trust, manage differences properly, advance mutually beneficial cooperation and explore ways for the two countries to get along with each other, so as to move China-India relations forward on the right track.

As the Chinese ambassador to India, I look forward to strengthening communication with the new Indian government and friends from all sectors of India, to enhance mutual understanding and trust, restore exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and create positive conditions for the sound and stable development of China-India relations.

The Chinese Embassy and Consulates in India will continue to provide more platforms and assistance for Indian friends to learn Chinese and study in China, and promote cultural and educational cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between China and India. I hope that young Indian friends could make more trips to China, which is India’s largest neighbor, to have an objective, true and comprehensive understanding of China. At the same time, you can share diverse and rich Indian culture with Chinese teenagers, make friends with them, learn from each other, and become bridges of communication and envoys of friendship between the two peoples.

Dear Friends,

China and India have the largest youth populations in the world. The future of our two countries depends on the young people, and so does the future of our world. Today, all of you, from all over India, understand China through the window of Chinese, and promote exchanges and friendship between the two peoples through the bridge of language. I’m convinced that the tradition of China-India people-to-people exchanges and cultural mutual learning over thousands of years will be passed down by you. And a new and more glorious chapter will be scripted.

In conclusion, my heartfelt congratulations again to the winners of the competition! I wish our Indian division champions good luck and greater success at the global finals in China!

Thank you!