On February 1st, China will celebrate the advent of spring in the lunar new year, which is the Year of the Tiger in Chinese Zodiac. In Chinese culture, tiger symbolizes bravery and strength, which are the spirits that humanity hold to work together in the face of severe challenges. As referring to Chinese idioms, we shall “add wings to the tiger” and “act with the courage and strength of the tiger” together to overcome all obstacles on our way forward to a shared future.
In the previous year, being unity and working together have shown their great advantages in making progress for countries themselves and in response to global risks. Adhering to the spirit of “togetherness”, China made fruitful accomplishments in pursuing great rejuvenation. With joint efforts of the Communist Party of China and its people, China celebrates the party’s 100th anniversary with advanced economy, fully secured peoples’ well-being and all-round progress in various fields as democracy, environment protection and high-tech development. 2021 witnessed the joint efforts of Chinese people to alleviate absolute poverty, advance COVID-19 prevention and control and maintain GDP growth rate of 8.1% annually.
As President Xi Jinping has stressed in his speech at the 2022 World Economic Forum, amidst the raging torrents of a global crisis, countries are not riding separately in some 190 small boats but are rather all in a giant ship on which our shared destiny hinges. In response to the battle against raging pandemic, China has strengthened international cooperation on origin tracing and medicine research, having sent over two billion doses of vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations. Facing with post-pandemic recovery, China embraces economic globalization and multilateralism and keeps sharing its development benefits with the world, building the "Belt and Road" into a "belt of prosperity" that benefits the world and a "road to happiness" that benefits the people.
The spirit of “togetherness” also maintains to be the main power to promote Samoa-China relationship. We have been developing steadfast cooperation in agriculture, medical service and poverty alleviation. We promote people-to-people exchanges for further development of solid friendship. We hold hands to counter COVID-19 response, with USD200,000 anti-COVID-19 fund donated to Samoa and medical supplies for prevention provided to support the country. Cooperation leads to fruitful accomplishments of benefiting our two nations and peoples.
2022 will make no difference when it comes to further the joint effort for a shared future of mankind. In this year of tiger, China will be marching on a new journey of building a modern socialist country in all respects, staying committed to pursuing high-quality development and sharing dividends to the world community, promoting ecological conservation, and achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality. China’s endeavor cannot be separated from the world’s pursuits and we’ll work together with the global community for a better shared future.
The spirit of “togetherness” will be vividly showcased in Beijing this February, when the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games dominate the world’s attention. From February 4th to 20th, China is going to deliver streamlined, safe and splendid Olympic Games to the world as it has promised. I’d like to brief you with three words to characterize this grand gathering of global family：
First word is “well-secured”. Since 2015 when Beijing was declared to be the host city, the Chinese government has spared no efforts in securing for a safe and splendid Olympic game. Organization works has been implemented smoothly with venues completed in time and preparations set for the game, despite of obstacles caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. To secure health and life safety of athletes and other participants are highest on our agenda, with area-based double closed-loop management process tailored for different categories of participants and strictly implementing the epidemic control protocols.
Second word is “eco-friendly”. China makes full use of the legacy of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, upgrading multiple sports venues to “Dual Olympic Stadiums”. All the stadiums of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games will be powered in an entirely green way and the CO2 transcritical ice-making technology will be used in the National Speed Skating Oval, which are the first time ever in the history of the Olympic Games. Beijing Olympics combines the promotion of sports with ecological conservation to contribute China’s share to a clean and beautiful earth.
The last word is “inspiring”. The Olympic spirit will bring people relief and hope during hard time, especially when the world is facing with raging pandemic, mounting environmental pressure and struggling economic development. Under the motto of “Together for a Shared Future”, the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games are inspiring people from all countries to transcend differences, come together under the banner of the Olympics, and join hands to address global challenges such as Covid-19 and climate change and shape the post-coronavirus world with the Olympic values.
Unity is strength and the spirit of “togetherness” will definitely dispel the haze of the epidemic and inject more confidence and strength to the world’s development. I firmly believe that with cooperation and mutual trust, we’ll obtain courage to go through the test of global challenges and build a shared future for the human beings.
By Chinese Ambassador H.E. Chao Xiaoliang