Honorable Mrs.AM Motshekga,MP Minister of Basic Education of South Africa,
Honorable Mr. SG Padayachee, DDG of Department of Basic Education of South Africa,
Dear Students and Faculty,
Good morning!
It is my great pleasure to meet all of you virtually at the Conferring Ceremony of the Chinese Ambassador Award co-organized by the Department of Basic Education of South Africa and the Chinese Embassy in South Africa.
On behalf of the Embassy, I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to you, Honorable Minister and all the guests for your hard work and active participation in this event.
China and South Africa enjoy a profound traditional friendship that features a Comrades plus Brothers bond.
Over the past 23 years of diplomatic ties, China-South Africa relations have made a historic leap from partnership, strategic partnership to comprehensive strategic partnership.
Under the joint guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Ramaphosa, our two countries have deepened mutual political trust, boosted economic and trade cooperation, and delivered vigorous people-to-people and education exchanges.
Last week, the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was held successfully.
President Xi Jinping summarized the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation in his opening keynote speech.
President Xi Jinping announced that China will supply another 1 billion doses of vaccines to Africa, which is the largest vaccine assistance program to Africa undertaken by one country alone since COVID-19 started.
President Xi Jinping proposed that China and Africa will jointly implement "nine programs" covering capacity building and people-to-people exchanges. Under this framework, China will deliver 80 key assistance projects.
We will strive to import a total of 300 billion US dollars worth of goods from Africa and see that Chinese companies invest at least 10 billion US dollars in Africa in the next three years.
President Ramaphosa also attended and addressed the Conference, where he spoke highly of China-Africa relations and highlighted the positive role that FOCAC plays for China-Africa common development.
China is ready to take the success of the Conference as an opportunity to further deepen the education cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between our two countries.
We are ready to work for stronger public support for the relations between our two countries, and to strengthen the bonds between our two peoples.
Dear Students and Faculty,
We in China believe that education is the most critical foundation for long-term national development.
During the Chinese nation’s 5000 years of glorious history and splendid culture, we have always attached great importance to education.
This year marks the CPC’s centenary. Under the strong leadership of the CPC, China has explored a path of education development that suits our basic national conditions.
Our efforts laid a solid foundation for achieving rejuvenation for the Chinese nation and we focus on the fundamental questions of what kind of talents to cultivate, how to deliver and for whose benefits are we working.
With the guidance and support of Honorable Minister, China-South cooperation in basic education has made positive progress in many aspects in recent years.
This includes faculty training, personnel exchanges, Chinese language education and running joint programs.
The Chinese Embassy is honored to participate in the annual National Teaching Awards in South Africa this year.
After a year of joint efforts by the two sides, the Chinese Ambassador Award project has finally been successfully implemented.
Today, we are using this occasion to witness this important achievement in our basic education cooperation.
I want to say that China is ready to build more platforms for cooperation in education and human resource development between our two sides.
Now let us announce the winners for the awards, please look at the screen.
The Chinese Embassy will provide a total of 1140,000 rand in prize money for the 39 winners of the above 5 awards.
The funds will be entrusted to the Department of Basic Education of South Africa for distribution.
Once again, I would like to extend my warm congratulations to the winners among our students and faculty members!
In you, I can already see a bright journey ahead for basic education in South Africa, a promising future for all teachers and students, and the bright prospects of friendship between the peoples of China and South Africa.
I believe that all the winners will continue to work hard and make progress. I also hope that you will learn more about China and strive to be friendly envoys that promote people-to-people exchanges and friendship between our two countries and contribute to building a China-South Africa community with a shared future in the new era.
Dear Students and Faculty,
Not long ago, the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee was successfully held.
The most important outcome of the Session is that the Party has established Comrade Xi Jinping’s core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and established the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.
We are embarking on a new journey toward our second century goal of fully building a modern socialist country and toward rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
We are more than ready to constantly enhance sharing of experience in governance between our two countries, so as to achieve common development and progress.
We highly commend the South African government and people for working hard to address the impact of the Omicron variant and the fourth wave of infections as well as to achieve economic recovery.
China will continue to work together with South Africa in this process. We will firmly support South Africa in defeating the virus and reviving the economy so as to continue to expand and upgrade the cooperation between us.
President Mandela once said that education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.
President Xi Jinping also emphasized that education is an important way to improve the comprehensive quality of people and promote all-round human development, and that it is an important cornerstone for national revitalization and social progress.
As we face new opportunities and challenges, let's join hands and work together to cultivate more talent for the happiness of our peoples and the development of our respective countries.
I thank you all!