Honorable President Damir:
Ladies and Gentlemen:

First I'd like to thank you, President Damir for your kind invitation. Alexandria is a world famous city for her ancient civilization and Alexandria University is a prestigious institution of high learning in Egypt. It is a great pleasure for me to visit your university and share with you my views on the latest development of China and China-Egypt relations.

Like Egypt, China is one of the four ancient civilizations in the world, yet at the same time it is a young republic. In 1949, after years of strenuous revolutionary struggle, the semi-colonial semi-feudal rule in China was brought to an end and the People's Republic was founded. It is from then on that the Chinese people stood up to determine their own fate. However, how to turn China from a poor and backward nation into a thriving and flourishing state so that the Chinese people would not only get independent but also get rich. From the year 1949 to the end of the 1970's, we made remarkable achievements in spite of some setbacks. By the end of 1978, the Chinese leadership headed by Mr. Deng Xiaoping made a historic decision to adopt the policy of reform and opening-up.

As a result of 20 years of exploration and practice, the Chinese people have finally hit on the road to success. Today, changes in China are dazzling. A miracle has taken place, which has never seen before in the history of Chinese nation. In 2001, China's GDP exceeded 1,000 billion dollars, 57 times that of the year 1949 when the People抯 Republic was founded and 26 times that of 1978 when the reform and opening-up policy was adopted, thus making China the 6th biggest economy in the world. China is now the second largest foreign reserve holder in the world with over 200 billion dollars, 110 times that of the year 1978, when China only had a foreign reserve of 1.9 billion dollars. The foreign direct investment is now almost 400 billion dollars, making China the second biggest recipient of FDI. The volume of foreign trade has also climbed up to nearly 510 billion dollars, 460 times that of the year 1950 and 20-odd times that of the year 1978, moving China up to the 6th place in the world.

China feeds 22% of the world population with only 7% of world arable land. China leads the world in the output of many important agricultural and industrial products, including steel, coal, cement, chemical fertilizer, TV sets, grain and etc. China's information, biological, space technology and other high-tech industries develop rapidly. The world's second largest telecommunication network has been established in China, which connects all parts of the country and the world. China takes the lead in mobile phone with the largest number of users in the world. The number of China's netizens has reached 33 million, ranking 2nd in the world.

Notable achievements were also made in infrastructure development. China enjoys the second place in the world in terms of express highway. The program for developing the western region of China has been carried out with major projects like the Qinghai-Tibet Railway going on smoothly. In March 2002, China's unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou 3 was launched into space and return to the Earth safely. Chinese scientists estimate that a manned space flight will be realized in 2005 and Chinese astronauts will land in moon and establish a base there in 2010.

With the growth of the national economy, the overall living standards of the Chinese people have greatly improved. 52 years ago, the life expectancy of the Chinese people was 35 years. Now it is 72, much higher than the world average. China lifts people from poverty faster than any other nation in the world, the poverty-stricken population has decreased from 25% to less than 5% of the world total. Today, 1.3 billion Chinese people are living not only much longer, but also much better.

Chinese Government spares no efforts to develop education and the educational level of Chinese people has been greatly promoted. The illiteracy rate of the Chinese people decreased from 80% of the total population to 14.5%, while adult illiteracy rate was brought down to below 5.5 percent. The enrollment rate for primary school-age children increased from 20 percent before 1949 to 99.3 percent. The number of universities and colleges in China reached 1224 in 2001, two times that of 1978. In 2000, about 130,000 students were enrolled for the postgraduate education, among which 25,000 were for the doctorate degree, and the others for the master degree. Before 1949, only 200 people were granted a master degree in China and not a single doctorate degree was given out.

With economic and educational development, China is also advancing the political reform by perfecting the legal system and promoting democracy. China has constantly improved the people's congress system and the multi-party cooperation and political consultation system under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). China has made great efforts to strengthen the building of democracy at the grass roots level and done a good job in safeguarding citizens' political rights. China's political reform has achieved positive results: the national legislation system has been improved; the supervision over the law enforcement and the judicial organs has been strengthened; the channels for all parties, groups and associations and personages to participate in the deliberation and administration of state affairs have been further broadened; and the systems of democratic election in villages has been constantly improved. The villagers' committees have been re-elected with some 600 million or more then 80 percent Chinese farmers participating directly in the elections.

While we are pleased with our achievements, we are fully aware that there are still many problems calling for solutions. They include overpopulation, the imbalance of development between China's east and west, slow increase of farmers' income and increasing employment pressure in cities. Problems of ecological environment are still outstanding. Since China's accession into the WTO last year, it is faced with more opportunities in international cooperation as well as tough challenges in international competition. How to meet these challenges and seize the opportunities are new tasks to be faced by the Chinese people.

Chinese people feel proud of the road they have chosen and hopeful for the future of the country. Our objective to double the GDP of the year 2000 by 2010, to realize the modernization of the nation by the middle of this century so as to build China into a strong, prosperous and democratic country.

I was often asked by some Egyptian friends: What is the secret for China's success? I told them, no secrets at all, but we do have some experiences. The most important of them are three, or "three open secrets" if you will.

First, wise leadership and diligent people. Mr. Deng Xiaoping had a great vision and made a correct assessment of the situation. His historic decision of adopting reform and opening-up policy ushered in a new era of China's economic development. President Jiang Zemin led the Chinese people to push forward this policy. Under their leadership the whole country unites as one and goes all out in its endeavors. The Chinese people accumulated experiences both in success and in setbacks. They keep trying, learning, never giving up. It is for their hard work that China can claim today's achievements.

Second, to combine foreign experiences with China's conditions. As the world economy is being globalized, no country can prosper with its door locked. It is necessary to draw on the experiences of the other countries. The developing countries in particular should introduce the advanced technologies and management expertise from the developed countries so as to avoid pitfalls and setbacks. However, at the same time, the national conditions should be taken into consideration. What works for other countries might not work for your own. Blind copying would lead nowhere.

Third, to achieve a balanced relationship between reform, development and stability. Development is what it is all about. And it is the key to solving all the problems. Reform is the engine for development. Stability is the prerequisite to and foundation of reform and development. Without social stability, reform can not be carried out and development is out of the question. By the same token, reform and development provide important guarantees for social stability. Only when reform and development are promoted can the stability be sustained. These three elements are interdependent and each one is indispensable. Overstressing or ignoring any one of them may result in deviation or even major mistakes. Only when the intensity of reform and the speed of development are commensurate with the bearing capacity of the society can we make achievement in a steady manner. It is only then that we can promote reform and development in a stable social environment and achieve lasting peace and stability with reform and development greatly promoted.

China and Egypt are two ancient civilizations with the longest history in the world. Both have made tremendous contributions to the world civilization and the progress of the humankind. The friendly exchanges between our two peoples date back to ancient times. Since the revolution in both countries, China and Egypt have always supported each other in struggle for national independence against the colonial rule, thus making our friendship most extraordinary. Egypt was the first Arab and African country that recognized new China. China had always stood on the Egyptian side and helped Egypt selflessly in safeguarding the national independence and sovereign and territorial integrity. In the past 46 years since China and Egypt established the diplomatic relations, no matter what happens in the world arena, our friendship has been deepened and our relationship broadened day by day. The exchanges and cooperation between China and Egypt in political, economic and trade, military, scientific and technological, cultural and educational fields have been constantly promoted. In 1999, President Jiang Zemin and President Mubarak decided to establish a strategic and cooperative relationship between our two countries, which elevated our relationship to a new high of strategic importance.

The successful visit by President Mubarak to China this year, which is also his 8th visit to China, and the recent visit of Premier Zhu Rongji to Egypt have further enriched the content of the strategic and cooperative relationship between China and Egypt. The bilateral economic cooperation has witnessed smooth development. The trade volume between China and Egypt reached 950 million dollars in 2001, and increased by 13.4% in the first quarter of this year. China's investment in Egypt is increasing on a yearly basis. The number of Chinese enterprises in Egypt has increased to 56 with total investment of 24 million dollars. China has also actively participated in building projects in the Suez Economic Zone. The cooperation between China and Egypt in the hi-tech fields such as telecommunication and electronics has had a good start. Our two countries recently signed the agreements on cooperation in the fields of trade, economic, oil, nuclear energy, tourism and animal quarantine. The China-Egypt Joint Business Council was also established. Now the both sides are working actively to implement these agreements. Tourism is a case in point. Egypt has just become the official destination country for Chinese tourists. The first group of 300 Chinese tourists visited Egypt in May, and they were warmly received by the Egyptian people. I am sure, tourism will provide a new platform for China-Egypt trade and economic cooperation and cultural exchanges. We are now also working on a direct flight between Beijing and Cairo. Constant progress has been made in our cooperation in military, scientific and technological fields. A Chinese naval fleet is making a post call on Alexandria. This is the first visit to Egypt ever made by Chinese naval ships in the 2000 years of history of China-Egypt relations.

Educational exchanges between China and Egypt are very active. A Senior Seminar on Education has been established and ministers of education from the two countries exchange visits every year. This high-level mechanism of educational exchanges is unique to China as well as to Egypt. It shows the great importance the two countries attach to the bilateral educational exchanges. Exchanges between universities of two countries are intensive too. Over a dozen famous Chinese universities including Peking University, Beijing Language and Culture Studies University, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Shanghai Foreign Studies University and Anhui University are engaged in extensive and close exchanges with Egyptian universities including Alexandria University, Cairo University, Ain Shams University and etc.. China and Egypt also exchange teachers and students on a regular basis. The strong growth of China-Egypt relations in recent years has resulted in a great surge of enthusiasm for learning Chinese language in Egypt. To meet the growing demand, China actively funds various programs of teaching Chinese language in Egypt. We donated textbooks, books and magazines and electronic equipment to Ain Shams University, which has a department for Chinese language study. We also provide financial support to teachers and outstanding students to study in China. Our help is also extended to other universities that plan to establish Chinese language departments. Chinese language training services are also provided to Egyptian public. During the last visit of Premier Zhu Rongji to Egypt, an exchange of note on funding a Chinese school was signed. This school will be the first Chinese school not only in Egypt but also in the Middle East and the whole African continent.

Alexandria has played an important role in the history of China-Egypt relations. Alexandria is the first African city known to the Chinese people, referred to as Li Xuan in ancient Chinese books. As early as 120 BC, the Chinese Emperor Han Wudi sent envoys to Alexandria, which marked the beginning of over-2000-years-old history of China-Egypt relations. Today, Alexandria, though an ancient city, is still young and full of vitality. Alexandria is working with its sister city Shanghai to contribute to the ever-growing China-Egypt friendship. Alexandria University has also played an active and important role in educational exchanges between the two countries. In short, China-Egypt relationship, which started in Alexandria and is developing in Alexandria, would further flourish in Alexandria in the future. I believe the upcoming visit to China by President Damir would further promote cooperation between the Alexandria University and China. I personally would like to work hand in hand with you to strengthen educational exchanges between the Alexandria University and Chinese universities, to expand the cooperation between Alexandria and Chinese cities, to promote friendship between the Chinese and Egyptian peoples so as to ensure lasting and steady growth of China-Egypt relations.

Thank you!