(22 January 2025, Brisbane Exhibition and Convention Centre)

Good evening! Happy Chinese New Year!

I’d like to begin by acknowledging Your Excellency the Honourable Dr Jeannette Young AC PSM, Governor of Queensland,and Professor Nimmo, it is a great privilege to welcome you here. Thank you for your very kind speech and wishes!

Honourable David Crisafulli MP, Premier and Minister for Veterans, we had a very productive talk last week, it’s great to see you again.

The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Councillor  Adrian Schrinner, and lady Mayoress Nina Schrinner, thank you for joining us.

Mr Michael Ma, President of the Queensland Chinese Association,I appreciate that you and Chinese community working tirelessly to strengthen friendships between Queensland and China.

In the meantime, I am so delighted to see friends from Cairns, Mackay, Bundaberg, Sunshine Coast and Gold coast. Isn’t it a pleasure to have friends coming from afar!

Distinguished Guests, Dear Friends,

On behalf of the Consulate General of China, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to each of you. Thank you for your longstanding support for our diplomatic work, and wish you to have a great time.

The Spring Festival is a time for celebration, not only in China but across the globe. Recently, it was successfully inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The Spring Festival reflects the profound emotional connections of the Chinese people, their attachment to family and country, and embodies their values of harmony and mutual respect. During this time, Chinese people around the world gather to celebrate, bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new, while praying for blessings and good fortune.

From January 14 to February 22, during the 40-day period, an estimated 9 billion trips will be made for family visits and travel across China. It is heartening to see that the celebration of the Spring Festival has increasingly become a colorful addition to Queensland’s multicultural fabric, with many Chinese families choosing to spend the New Year in Queensland and other parts of Australia.

The year 2024 has been an extraordinary chapter in China’s development, with achievements that are truly inspiring. The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China successfully convened its third plenary session and adopted a comprehensive plan for further deepening reform across the board to advance Chinese modernization. Despite the world economy being in the doldrums and facing increasing instability and uncertainty, China’s GDP grew by 5 percent year-on-year, and high-quality development has made solid progress.

As you saw in the warm-up video, new business sectors, forms and models have kept emerging in China. The annual production of new energy vehicles has exceeded 10 million units for the first time, while significant advances have been made in integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, quantum communication, and other fields. Major breakthroughs, such as the successful lunar far-side sample collection by Chang'e-6 and the official operation of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, continue to emerge, showcasing the momentum of innovation-driven development and injecting strong energy into fostering new quality productive forces.

The achievements are hard-won, thanks to the leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, who has united and led the entire Party and people of all ethnic groups in shouldering responsibilities and overcoming difficulties. The Communist Party of China is committed to making the people’s priorities its own, putting their wishes into action, and striving for their well-being. This is the most solid foundation and the strongest support for China’s development.

Distinguished Guests, Dear Friends,

At present, the world is facing a multitude of challenges and uncertainties, and it is more important than ever for China and Australia to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation. 2024 has been a year of significant development in China-Australia relations. President Xi Jinping met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of the G20 summit, where they reached important consensus on promoting the development of bilateral relations, expanding mutually beneficial cooperation, and supporting and safeguarding economic globalization and free trade. Prime Minister Li Qiang’s successful visit to Australia also achieved fruitful outcomes, injecting new vitality into our bilateral relations and cooperation across various fields, and advancing the healthy and stable development of the China-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

The Consulate General of China has actively promoted exchanges and cooperation between China and Queensland, creating opportunities for practical cooperation and contributing to strengthening people-to-people ties. In 2024, we focused on the cooperation needs of remote areas, visiting Torres Shire, Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, and Shire of Balonne, and actively expanded platforms for local cooperation between China and Queensland. We also visited frontliners such as those working in factories and farms, offering support to the Chinese community and facilitating consular services, taking concrete steps to fulfill our commitment of diplomacy for the people.

By engaging in friendly exchanges with the local community, we have enhanced mutual understanding. We’ve heard numerous touching stories about early Chinese immigrants establishing their lives and developing Queensland, and we are deeply moved by the kindness and warmth of the people here.

China is advancing high-level opening-up and embracing the world with open arms. China has announced the extension of the visa-free stay period to 30 days, which has been warmly welcomed by all sectors in Australia. I would like to take this opportunity to invite all of you to visit China, bringing your families and friends along, to experience China’s modern infrastructure and efficient logistics network. You can visit Chinese businesses, schools, and communities, where you will encounter the enthusiasm and friendliness of the Chinese people, as well as the vitality and energy of Chinese youth. The Consulate General is ready to provide support and assistance to make your visits more convenient.

Distinguished Guests, Dear Friends,

As an old saying goes, “When festival times come round people think all the more of their loved ones”. People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait share the same roots and bloodline, and no one can ever sever this bond of kinship. Early reunification of our motherland is not only the common desire of all the people of China, including our compatriots in Taiwan, but the common wish of all peace-loving and justice-supporting peoples and countries the world over. We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the utmost effort. China’s reunification will bring more opportunities for development to all countries and inject positive energy into the prosperity and stability of the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

With a toast to bid the old year farewell, we look ahead to a new year full of promise and renewal. The Consulate General is ready to work with all our friends in Australia to further strengthen China-Queensland economic, people to people and cultural exchanges and contribute to the long-term development of China-Australia friendship.

Thank you!