Honorable Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Youssef Wali,
Honorable Ministers, Fellow Ambassadors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
　
Thank you for joining us in celebrating the 53rd anniversary of the founding of the People抯 Republic of China. China is an ancient civilization with over 5000 years of history. It is also a young republic. We are proud of our ancient past. We take even greater pride in our achievements today. In just 53 years since the founding of the People's Republic, earthshaking changes have taken place in China. Especially in the past two decades since the reform and opening-up, the Chinese people have made a miracle in modernizing the country, which is rarely seen in the history of China as well as that of the world.
This year marks the first year of China抯 accession into WTO. While actively promoting all-round opening-up, China has successfully overcome the impact of a weak world economy and maintained a strong growth with a 7% increase of its GDP. A stable, developing and prosperous China will make greater contributions to the peace and development of the world.

This year has also witnessed remarkable progress in China-Egypt relations. We have achieved many "Firsts". In political relations, it is for the first time that the state leaders of the two countries exchanged visits in the same year. President Mubarak's 8th visit to China and Premier Zhu Rongji's visit to Egypt greatly promoted the friendly cooperation between our two countries. In economic and trade relations, the first China-Egypt Joint Business Council was established. The bilateral trade has grown steadily and China's imports from Egypt showed a rapid increase of 10%. For the first time in history, China imported Egypt-made cars in large quantity. As far as cultural and educational exchanges are concerned, we are going to open the first Chinese cultural center in Egypt next month. And in conjunction with this event the two countries will jointly sponsor the first Chinese Cultural Week. The two governments also agreed on building a Chinese school in Cairo, which will be the first Chinese school not only in Egypt, but also in the Middle East and in the entire African continent. With respect to tourism, Egypt became in May the first Arab destination country for Chinese tourists. And many Chinese tourists came since then to see their dreams come true. In military exchanges, a Chinese naval fleet made a historic port call on Alexandria, which broke new ground for cooperation between the two militaries. The cooperation between China and Egypt on international arena has also been strengthened. Not long ago, China for the first time appointed a special envoy for the Middle East affaires. This will further enhance cooperation between China and Egypt and other Middle East countries on issues of mutual concern.

All in all these "Firsts" fully demonstrate the importance China and Egypt have attached to the strategic and cooperative relationship between the two countries. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to all friends present tonight and in particular to Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Wali, for your unremitting efforts and outstanding contributions to China-Egypt relations. I believe that by working together we'll be able to achieve more "Firsts" for China-Egypt relations in the days to come.

Now I would like to propose a toast:
To the prosperity of China and Egypt,
To the friendship between the Chinese and Egyptian peoples,
And to the health of all friends present tonight.
Thank you!