(28 Ocotober 2013, Auckland International Airport)

Honorable Minister Chris Tremain, Associate Minister of Tourism,

Mr. Zhang Zifang, COO of China Southern Airlines,

Mr. Henry van du Heyden, Chairman of Auckland Airport,

Mr. Niu Qingbao, the Consul-General of China to Auckland,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Dear friends,

Kia Ora and good afternoon!  Today, I am extremely delighted and honored to visit Auckland and attend the China Southern Airlines' B787 Inaugural Flight Ceremony at the beginning of my tenure. On behalf of the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to China Southern Airlines for your very first B787 flight.

I am happy to know that this is not only the first flight of B787 for China Southern but also the very first flight of all airlines in New Zealand.  Additionally, China Southern plans to increase its Guangzhou-Auckland-Guangzhou-route to 10 flights-a-week from this December.

Hereby, I would like to express my gratitude to all of those from both China and New Zealand to make this flight a reality.  And I believe this first flight of Dreamliner will help to build a brand new air bridge for better people-to-people exchanges and promote cooperation between our two countries.

Over the past 41 years, and especially the last 5 years since we signed and implemented the FTA, the bilateral exchanges and cooperation in the areas of politics, trade, education, culture, tourism, science and technology have grown from strength to strength.  China has become the largest trading partner, the largest source of overseas students and the fastest growing overseas tourist market for New Zealand.  These are not just fancy figures or empty ranking lists.  They represent the actual people-to-people exchanges, closer friendship, deeper understanding as well as solid foundation of our relations.  To business people, they also mean Big Money.  And I believe China Southern Airlines and Auckland Airport agree with me the most today.

The background of the fast-growing China-New Zealand relationship is that China's relations with the rest of the world have undergone historic changes and China increasingly integrates into the international community.  China cannot develop in isolation of the world, nor could the world achieve prosperity and stability without China.  Reform and Opening-up remains the basic state policy for China.  Drawing on successful experience from other countries including New Zealand, the domestic market with 1.3 billion people will keep releasing its huge potential.  Since the outbreak of global financial crisis, China's contribution to world's economic growth exceeds 25%.  In the next five years, China is expected to import 10 trillion US dollars of goods, invest 500 billion US dollars overseas and send over 400 million tourists abroad.  We are more than willing to share our development fruits and the enormous business opportunities with the rest of the world.

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.  Thanks to the grand events like today's first flight and the hard work of all leaders and people from various fields, China-New Zealand relations could enrich and enhance itself, and become more mature and comprehensive.  I salute you all and wish to work closely with you all in the coming years to push this great relationship into a higher level.

Once again, congratulations to China Southern Airlines, wish your flight a success, and wish the China-New Zealand friendship will blossom like the logo of China Southern's red kapok flower.

Thank you!