Remarks by Chargé d’Affaires Madam Xu Xueyuan At the 2023 Chinese New Year Reception and Gourmet Night
2023/01/19 01:12

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

First, a big welcome to all of you, especially friends who come from other states and cities! Finally, after three years, we are celebrating the Chinese New Year with our friends from various sectors of the United States again. Thank you for coming!

The Chinese New Year is the most important traditional festival in China. It carries Chinese culture and values that have lasted for thousands of years. It represents the Chinese people's aspiration for a better life. In China, people would celebrate the Chinese New Year by setting off fireworks, hanging lanterns, eating dumplings, making rice cakes, performing dragon and lion dances... And most importantly, people would reunite with their family and friends, just like today, to wave goodbye to the past year, and embrace the new one together.

In Chinese culture, rabbit symbolizes peace and fortune. The fluffy and furry creature is always associated with gentleness and kindness. Chinese netizens affectionately refer to China as "my rabbit", using rabbit as a new mascot of China, which represents Chinese people’s pursuit of peace for their country and for the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Chinese people's love for rabbit is deeply rooted in Chinese culture. We value peace, and we believe that development and prosperity can only be achieved on the basis of peace and harmony. At the 20th CPC National Congress held last year, it was announced that we will advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization. This has been made the central task of China for the new era. Chinese modernization is the modernization of common prosperity for all, and it features harmony between humanity and nature, as well as peaceful development. These ideas resonate with the values in traditional Chinese philosophy, such as pursuing the common good, achieving harmony between man and heaven, and building good-neighborliness and amity. Our goal is both big and simple. It is essentially about delivering a better life to the people.

As an ancient Chinese saying goes, “All living things should flourish without harming each other; all ways of life should thrive without hindering each other.” Americans say, “It’s our differences that make us unique and beautiful.” Since Day One of reengagement in the 1970s, China and the U.S. have realized that our two countries are hugely different. But such differences have not kept our people from building friendship. They have not hindered the exchanges and cooperation between our two countries over the past decades. Our two countries and our people have benefited immensely from such broad-mindedness and the persistent efforts to find common ground amid differences. Facing new circumstances, we still need to find the right way to get along in harmony. This is not optional, but a must.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Not long ago, President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden had a successful meeting in Bali. In the meeting they agreed that an unstable and uncertain China-U.S. relationship serves neither side’s interests. They agreed to strengthen communication and exchanges, advance practical cooperation, and bring our bilateral relations back to the right track of sound and stable development. This has charted the course for China-U.S. relations for a time to come. For our relations to go steadily forward like a giant ship, our priority is not building “guardrails” to prevent accidents, but setting “guidelines” for safe navigation. These guidelines must contain basic elements such as no conflict or confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation. Only with the guidelines and only when they are followed can we ensure that there will be no loss of direction, no deviation, and no bumping into the “guardrails”. In the new year, we look forward to working with people from various sectors in the U.S., to implement the important common understandings of the two presidents, reduce as many differences and frictions as possible, and build as much dialogue and cooperation as possible. We hope to continuously minimize the noise and add pleasant melodies to the relationship.

The best pleasant melody of China-U.S. relations comes from our people. The over 700 billion dollars of annual trade, the 70,000-plus American-funded companies in China, the daily flow of 15,000 people-to-people visits before the pandemic, and the almost 300,000 Chinese students studying in the U.S. even after the pandemic began — these are strong examples of how our interests are deeply integrated, and why we can only make the China-U.S. relationship work and not mess it up. China has substantially adjusted its COVID response measures, effective from January 8. The Chinese economy is expected to regain a 5% growth. China is again welcoming visitors from all over the world with open arms. Chinese companies are making tens of thousands of overseas trips to take orders. Chinese tourists are planning to travel abroad and spend money that they didn’t splurge for three years. A reopening China is creating huge opportunities for the world. Is the United States ready for this? I believe the answer is positive.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the Chinese Zodiac, Rabbit Hour is from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m when the sun rises, which represents hope. I know that some American friends would say “Rabbit rabbit” aloud at the beginning of a month to pray for good luck. The Year of the Rabbit is fast approaching. Let’s raise glasses and toast to a lucky, promising and productive Year of the Rabbit, for both countries and the whole world. I wish you a happy and auspicious Chinese New Year!

Rabbit rabbit!


Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America
3505 International Place, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008 U.S.A.
Tel: +1-202-495-2266
Fax: +1-202-495-2138
E-mail: chinaembpress_us@mfa.gov.cn

Visa Office
Address: 2201 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. Suite 110, Washington, D.C. 20007
Tel: +1 202-855-1555 (12:30-16:30, Monday to Friday, except for holidays)
Fax: +1 202-525-2056
Email for Passport and Travel Document Application: washington_hz@csm.mfa.gov.cn
Email for Authentication Application: washington_gzrz@csm.mfa.gov.cn
Email for Visa Application: washington_visa@csm.mfa.gov.cn