(6:00 p.m., January 21, Chisinau)

Honourable Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mihai Popșoi,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

Good evening!

It gives me great pleasure to gather with you all to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Horse. Not long ago, by the appointment of President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China, I assumed office as the 11th Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to the Republic of Moldova. First of all, please allow me to extend my heartfelt thanks, along with sincere New Year greetings and best wishes, to friends from all walks of life who have long cared for and supported the development of China–Moldova relations.

The Spring Festival is the most important traditional festival of the Chinese people, symbolising reunion, hope and new beginnings. In Chinese culture, the horse embodies dynamism, resilience and forward momentum, representing confidence in the future and the will to take action. To embark on a new chapter of diplomatic career service in such a year full of vitality and drive is both a great honour and a profound responsibility for me.

As a Chinese proverb puts it, Distance tests a horse’s strength, time reveals a person’s heart. Over the past 34 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China–Moldova relations have maintained sound and steady development in spite of of profound changes in the international and regional landscape, which provides strong proof that China and Moldova are true friends. Our two countries uphold the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, and support each other on issues concerning national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Through my recent courtesy calls, I have deeply felt the friendship extended by the Moldovan side and its willingness to deepen practical cooperation. I have also come to better understand the Moldovan government’s and people’s aspirations for peace, stability and prosperity. China supports Moldova in independently choosing its development path and stands ready to continue providing assistance for Moldova’s economic and social development as well as the improvement of people’s well-being.

Over the past year, bilateral cooperation has achieved new fruits. The two sides signed protocols on the export of Moldovan grape seed meal and sunflower seed meal to China. China has actively expanded imports from Moldova and encouraged enterprises to invest here, and has become Moldova’s second-largest trading partner. Cars made in China have become popular choices of Moldovan people. Phase III of the technical cooperation project for the Traditional Chinese Medicine Centre in Moldova was officially launched, and 296 representatives from different sectors of Moldova went to China for seminars, marking a record high. Minister of Education and Research, Dan Perciun, visited China and signed an agreement on cooperation in Chinese language education. This evening, students from Mikhail Berezovsky secondary school will sing a very popular Chinese song entitled“Where Is Spring?” in Chinese. Seeing more and more Moldovan young people learning Chinese fills me with confidence and expectations for the future of China–Moldova friendship.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

The world today is undergoing accelerating changes on a scale rarely seen in a century, with the international landscape beset by transformation and turbulence, and global challenges becoming more prominent. The environment in this region stands at a crossroads between war and peace. As Chinese president Xi Jinping pointed out, “Division, confrontation and zero-sum games have no future, and returning the world to the law of the jungle is not what people want to see, global solidarity and cooperation are the only right choices”. 

China remains firmly committed to the path of peaceful development, steadfastly advocates dialogue and negotiation, and promotes political solutions to crises. China welcomes and supports all efforts for peace, and is ready to work with the international community, to strive for a fair and durable peace deal that is accepted by all the parties concerned.

In an uncertain world, China is the greatest source of certainty and will continue to be an important engine of global growth. Moldovan friends who have been to china would agree with me that believing in China is believing in the better tomorrow, embracing China is embracing a brighter future. The year 2026 marks the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan, which draw the blueprint for China's economic and social development over the next five years and will unlock a growing array of opportunities for the world. China will open its doors still wider, and inject greater certainty and fresh momentum into the world through its high-quality development, and will contribute to common development and shared prosperity of countries around the world.

China welcomes Moldova to board on the Express train of China’s development. Not long ago, President Sandu also mentioned that Moldova will continue developing economic cooperation with countries including China. China sincerely invites Moldova to participate in the “Big Market for All: Export to China” initiative and to send delegations to the China International Import Expo to be held in November in Shanghai. We stand ready to deepen alignment and expand cooperation with Moldova in areas including trade and investment, scientific and technological innovation, green development, as well as people-to-people exchanges and educational cooperation, achieving mutual success through converging interests and promoting win-win outcomes and common development.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

In Moldova, there is a tradition of welcoming guests with bread, salt and wine. Bread symbolises diligence and abundance, salt represents sincerity and blessing, and wine signifies the richness of friendship. I was honored by this hospitality at Mikhail Berezovsky secondary school. During the past 2 and half months since my arrival in chisinau I have come to realize that The peoples of our two countries both cherish family traditions and share the values of hard work, simplicity, sincerity and warmth. At the same time, much remains to be done for our two peoples to overcome geographical and language barriers, enhance mutual understanding, and deepen our traditional friendship.

On 17 February 2026, the Chinese Lunar Year of the Horse will officially begin. This evening, we will also hold the issuance ceremony for the Year of the Horse commemorative stamp, designed by renowned Moldovan artist, Ms.Natalia Sattarova. The design beautifully blends Moldovan artistic elements with traditional Chinese zodiac culture, creating a vivid and elegant image of the horse. This marks the third consecutive year in which the Chinese Embassy in Moldova and Moldova Post have jointly issued zodiac stamps, which have become a distinctive name card of China–Moldova friendship and people-to-people exchanges.

A horse can travel a thousand miles—what matters most is the direction; lasting cooperation depends above all on mutual trust. In the coming Year of the Horse, I will maintain close communication with friends from the Moldovan government, parliament, business community, academia and media, and work with renewed vigour to advance practical cooperation to new breakthroughs, promote new achievements in people-to-people exchanges, and elevate bilateral relations to a new high. I look forward to working hand in hand with friends from all sectors in Moldova to carefully nurture this friendship of “bread and salt”, so that China–Moldova cooperation may grow richer with time like fine wine, and endure as steadfastly as the Great Wall.

Dear friends, the coldest time is about to come to an end. Spring is just around the corner. Let’s spur on the horses and ride into the spring of sino-moldova relations.

Finally, I sincerely wish China–Moldova relations steady progress and great success in the Year of the Horse!

May all our guests find joy in their hearts, success in their endeavours, and fulfilment in all that lies ahead!