Distinguished Ceann Comhairle,
Distinguished TDs,
Distinguished Cathaoirleach and Mayors,
Dear friends, 

Good afternoon,

It’s my great pleasure to join you in celebrating the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Ireland. On June 22nd, 1979, China and Ireland signed the Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, opened the new gate for friendship, mutual-understanding and mutual-beneficial cooperation between our two countries and two peoples. Firstly, I would like to extend our deepest appreciation to those who have participated in and contributed to the development of this relationship over the years.

Over the past 45 years, China and Ireland respected each other, enhanced mutual understanding and mutual trust, set an good example of friendly coexistence and mutual-beneficial cooperation between two countries of different size, history, culture and political system. We have worked together effectively within multilateral framework underpinned by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, committed to safeguarding world peace and stability, advocating free and fair trade, tackling climate change and other global challenges, and countering protectionism and unilateralism.

Over the past 45 years, China and Ireland pursued win-win cooperation. Our bilateral economic and trade cooperation, as well as two-way investment, have been growing by leaps and bounds. Now, China is Ireland's 6th largest trading partner, the 5th largest export market, the 4th largest source of imports, and the largest trading partner in Asia Pacific. Our bilateral trade of commodities was over 20 billion Euro in 2023, which was over 4,200 times more than the figure in 1979. Irish investment in China reaches 2.73 Billion Euro. And Chinese investment in Ireland is over 9.37 Billion Euro, creating more than 5000 jobs in Dublin, Dundalk, Cork, Kildare and many other cities and counties of Ireland.

Over the past 45 years, our people-to-people links have been growing steadily. China-Ireland friendship is deeply rooted in our two peoples and it will continue to be the most important and reliable source of strength for the relationship in the next 45 years and beyond. Now there are nearly 50,000 Chinese studying, working and living in Ireland. Every year thousands of Chinese tourists come to Ireland for the magical Wild Atlantic Way, the fabulous Riverdance at the Gaiety Theatre, and many other attractions in this beautiful country with enriched history and culture. With Chinese language becoming a subject of the Leaving Certificate exams in 2022, more and more Irish people are now learning Chinese language and Chinese culture. Thousands of them have been to China for tourism, work or study.

Distinguished guests, dear friends,

As the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, both China and Ireland - like other countries - are faced with complex challenges of the current world. Some people attempt to paint our relations in a negative light, exaggerating the differences between our two countries and preaching de-risking this mutual-beneficial relations. Of course we have differences, but the point at issue is how we see and handle the differences. More than 2,500 years ago, a great Chinese philosopher said,  “All living things can grow in harmony without hurting one another, and different ways can run in parallel without interfering with one another”. A great Irish, John Hume, said, “Difference is not a threat, difference is natural. Difference is of the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace – respect for diversity.”  I belive that so long as we are prepared to seek common ground while accommodating differences, we will forge a consensus to further promote this relations for more benefits of our two countries and two peoples. I believe both of our two sides have courage and wisdom to do so, as we did in the past 45 years.

In January this year, Chinese Premier Li Qiang paid an official visit to Ireland and had friendly and in-depth exchanges with President Higgins and then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, reaching important common understandings on the future development of our bilateral relations. China stands ready to work with Ireland to implement these common understandings, taking the 45th anniversary as a new starting point to further enrich China-Ireland Strategic Partnership for Mutually Beneficial Cooperation.

Last but not the least, Tánaiste Micheál Martin, who is unable to attend today’s event due to prior commitments, sent a warm message to us. He said, “I would like to take this opportunity to extend my appreciation to you for your work in supporting Ireland-China relations. It has been a busy period in relations between our two countries with the welcome visit of Premier Li Qiang to Dublin in January and a number of high level visits by Irish Government Ministers to China. My own visit to China last November offered a valuable opportunity for me to meet with my counterparts in Beijing to discuss the many strong ties between China and Ireland and to exchange views on current global challenges and issues of mutual interest. I look forward to continuing our work together to develop relations between our countries in an open and constructive spirit and wish you the best for the celebration.”

Distinguished guests, dear friends, I would like to propose a toast,

To 45 years of diplomatic relations between China and Ireland!

To the well-being of our two peoples!

And to the brighter future of the partnership between China and Ireland!

Sláinte!