Distinguished Guests,
Ladies, Gentlemen and Friends,

Good evening!

Welcome to today’s reception and join us in celebrating the 97th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

In 1927, a new model of the people’s army led by the Communist Party of China was born in China. Over the past 97 years, the PLA has made great achievements in contributing to the dignity, prosperity and strength of the Chinese nation, provided strong underpinning for safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, and contributed to building a community with a shared future for mankind. Currently, under the guidance of the Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military, the PLA is striving to achieve its goals for the centenary in 2027, elevating our people’s armed forces to world-class standards, and serving as a strategic safeguard for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Recently, the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China convened its third plenary session and adopted Resolution on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization. The session emphasizes the importance of building a high-standard socialist market economy, pursuing high-standard opening-up, and modernizing China’s system and capacity for governance. It is believed that it will provide new cooperation opportunities for all countries including India. The session also stated that modernizing national defense and the armed forces is an integral part of Chinese modernization. We must maintain the Party’s absolute leadership over the people’s armed forces and fully implement the strategy of strengthening the military through reform, so as to provide a strong guarantee for realizing the PLA centenary goal and achieving basic modernization of national defense and the armed forces.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The world today is undergoing major changes unseen in a century. Various security challenges keep emerging. Instabilities and uncertainties are rising. President Xi Jinping put forward the Global Security Initiative (GSI), which upholds the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and aims to create a new path to security that features dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance and win-win over zero-sum. It has received support and appreciation from more than 100 countries and international and regional organizations. China would like to work together with the international community to fully implement the GSI, enhance international security cooperation, improve global security governance, and build a world that enjoys lasting peace and universal security.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. Decades ago, Chinese leaders, together with leaders from India and Myanmar, jointly advocated the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, setting a correct benchmark for handling state-to-state relations. China and India, as two major developing countries and emerging economies, are now at a critical stage of national revitalization. Upholding good-neighborliness and friendship, and realizing common development serve the fundamental interests of the two countries and two peoples. This month, the two foreign ministers met twice, injecting new impetus into the improvement and development of China-India relations. The two sides should continue to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, carry forward the spirit of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and adhere to the principles of “mutual respect, mutual understanding, mutual trust, mutual accommodation, and mutual accomplishment”. We should strengthen dialogue at all levels and in all fields, properly handle and manage differences, promote mutually beneficial and friendly cooperation, so as to push forward China-India relations along the track of sound and steady development and jointly promote regional and global peace, stability and development.

Finally, I would like to propose a toast,

to the 97th anniversary of the founding of the PLA,

to the friendship and cooperation between China and India,

and to the peace and development of the world.

Cheers!