Dear guests,

Good afternoon! Welcome to today's Spring Festival reception.

If you were in China today, there is no doubt that each of you would be part of the Spring Festival travel rush, traveling by various means of transportation, near or far, to reunite with your families. The Chinese Embassy, as your home in Lesotho, warmly welcomes all of you to celebrate the Chinese New Year, despite being far from our homeland and loved ones. Due to limited space, we couldn't invite all Chinese nationals residing in Lesotho. Please convey our greetings to the groups you represent and your families.

Thank you to the young colleagues of the Embassy for their dedicated efforts. For them, this is their first Spring Festival spent in a foreign workplace. The song “Ode to the Motherland” expresses the young colleagues’ feelings towards the motherland and also embodies the significance of celebrating the Chinese New Year in this distant African country, in the Mountain Kingdom. This significance lies in the fact that we are all contributing to our motherland together.

Chinese-funded enterprises have brought to Lesotho advanced technologies and rich experience, overcoming various difficult working and living conditions, and have built roads and bridges in the mountains, greatly improving transportation in Lesotho, promoting local economic development, and bringing convenience to people’s lives. Our medical teams have shouldered the sacred mission of saving lives and treating the injured for many years. Under the conditions of crude medical facilities and the severe situation of high HIV prevalence, they have not retreated. With their superb medical skills, noble medical ethics, and selfless dedication, they have provided high-quality medical services to the people of Lesotho, establishing the well-known “golden brand” of Chinese medical teams. The teachers of the Confucius Classroom, with their enthusiasm and professional skills, have sparked a strong interest in Chinese language and culture among the people of Lesotho, especially the younger generation, through lively and interesting teaching methods. We hope that after the establishment of the Confucius Institute, it will leverage its agricultural technology cooperation features to open up a new situation for cultural exchanges between China and Lesotho. Through your efforts, you have all played an important role in deepening the friendship and practical cooperation between China and Lesotho.

Overseas Chinese in Lesotho are also an important force in promoting friendship between China and Lesotho. You have been in Lesotho for different lengths, engaged in various occupations and are scattered in different parts of the country. Wherever I go, I am pleased to see that overseas Chinese are united and supportive of each other; various overseas Chinese associations are united and work together. You not only rely on your hard work and wisdom to invest and start businesses in Lesotho, earning a good and decent life for yourselves and your families, but also actively integrate into the local society, get along well with the people of Lesotho, and make positive contributions to the social and economic development of Lesotho, demonstrating the spirit of Chinese people being united, hardworking and full of vigor.

I want to tell my compatriots in Taiwan in particular that the compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have the same roots, the same language, and the same race. Blood is thicker than water. We are all descendants of the Yan and Huang emperors. No matter how the times change, the flesh and blood ties between the compatriots on both sides of the Strait will not diminish in the slightest. The overseas Chinese and Taiwan compatriots in Lesotho have been in a foreign country for a long time, caring for each other and working together. They created many touching stories. I hope that all compatriots can continue to be united in thought and action, promoting cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation and promoting the peaceful reunification of the motherland. I also hope that everyone will take practical actions to firmly oppose any form of “Taiwan independence” separatist forces and safeguard the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation. We all look forward to the early arrival of the day of national reunification!

Compatriots,

Today, we gather here to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. We should be proud of the achievements our motherland has made in the past year. The year 2024 was a year full of harvest and joy. We successfully held the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, embarking on a new journey of further deepening reform comprehensively. We celebrated the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, carrying forward the great cause. We have proactively responded to the impacts of the changing environment at home and abroad. We have adopted a full range of policies to make solid gains in pursuing high-quality development. China’s economy has rebounded and is on an upward trajectory. We actively engaged in international cooperation. The 70th Anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, and the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) were successfully held one after another, demonstrating China’s magnanimity and grace.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic relations between China and Lesotho, and it has been a fruitful year for our bilateral relations. The leaders of our two countries exchanged letters eight times. Nearly ten high-level officials at the ministerial level or above in Lesotho visited China, setting a new record in recent years. During the critical period of constitutional reform in Lesotho and despite air tickets are in short supply, we managed to facilitate Prime Minister Matekane’s presence at the Beijing Summit of the FOCAC with three cabinet ministers in tow. This was his first official visit to China. During the visit, the relationship between China and Lesotho was elevated to a strategic partnership, making China the first country to establish a strategic-level relationship with Lesotho. Lesotho’s political leaders expressed their pride in this on many occasions. Prime Minister Matekane also visited Shandong Province to hold an investment forum and visited several enterprises including Qingdao Construction Group Corporation. China and Lesotho reached many important cooperation consensuses. The practical cooperation between China and Lesotho has been fruitful. Major projects such as the Maseru District Hospital and Eye Clinic, the Mpiti to Sehlaba-Thebe Road, and the Fingerprint Laboratory have been successfully completed and delivered, bringing tangible benefits to the people of Lesotho. Last week, I attended the Tunnel Boring Machine launching ceremony of the Polihali Transfer Tunnel Project. I was glad to see Chinese companies participating in this major project that concerns the national economy and people’s livelihood in Lesotho. Along the way, I heard nothing but praise for the quality and efficiency of Chinese engineering from all sectors of Lesotho. We have also actively provided government scholarships and various training opportunities to Lesotho, promoting people-to-people exchanges. Prince Seeiso visited China in the 1980s and returned to his alma mater, Beijing Language and Culture University during his visit last year, writing a beautiful story of China-Lesotho exchanges spanning nearly four decades. More than ten young people from Lesotho who received technical training in China have successfully started their own businesses upon returning home, attracting widespread attention and praise in Lesotho. Facts have proved that our efforts and dedication have been noticed by our friends in Lesotho. According to a poll released by the renowned African polling organization “Afrobarometer” in November, 71% of the people in Lesotho believe that China has had a positive political and economic impact on their country.

Compatriots,

Currently, China-Lesotho relations have entered the best period in history. This is the result of our joint efforts and unity! In the new year, we are full of confidence in the further development of China-Lesotho relations. We will continue to adhere to the concept of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith, and the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests, and work hand in hand with Lesotho to implement the outcomes of the Beijing Summit and continuously add new dimensions to the China-Lesotho strategic partnership. I hope that in the new year, all of you will continue to leverage your advantages and actively engage in the cause of friendly cooperation between China and Lesotho, contributing more wisdom and strength to enhancing the friendship between the two peoples and promoting the common development of the two countries. The Chinese Embassy in Lesotho will continue to serve the Chinese citizens and overseas Chinese in Lesotho wholeheartedly, doing good deeds, practical things and solving problems for them, and conveying the warmth and care of the Communist Party of China and the country to every Chinese citizen and overseas Chinese.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you for your continuous support for me and the work of the Embassy! I wish all of you a prosperous Year of the Snake, a happy family, a thriving career and all the best!