October 1 this year marks the 70^th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Since the founding of New China, our GDP has increased by 175 times while our life expectancy hasdoubled. This has completely changed the course of the Chinese nation toward a long line of great miracles. Looking back at the history gives us three major reflections: 

The first reflection is that China has walked a long, winding road to get to where we are today. The New China not only completely ended the humiliating history of the Chinese nation, but also created a rare economic boon in human history that propelled China to weather through the 1997 and 2008 global financial crises and made the country an engine and stabilizer for world economic recovery and growth by contributing more than 30% to the world economic development.

China remains committed to letting the public share the fruits of economic and social progress, exploring our unique development path, catching up in industrialization, and achieving goals of standing up, getting rich and becoming strong. The Chinese Government's policies are people-oriented and we are working hard to achieve the goal of total poverty alleviation by 2020, with a contribution of over 70% to poverty reduction campaigns worldwide.

The second reflection is that the Communist Party of China has done great things, in a country with a weak foundation and a large population and in a time when there was no ready-made model in building socialism and modernization.

In the past 70 years, the Communist Party of China, which represented the common interests of the people at large, has led the Chinese people on a historic quest to building a socialist system with Chinese characteristics. In the spirit of seeking truth from facts and governing for the people, the Communist Party of China has proposed, through consensus and centralized democracy, fresh concepts for global governance including the new security concept and a community of shared destiny for mankind.

For 70 years, as China's long-ruling party and representative of Chinese people's overall interests, the Communist Party of China has consistently adhered to its original aspiration and mission- to seek happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation  for the Chinese nation. In line of strong self-revolution, the Communist Party of China stays problem-orientated, corrects mistakes and tackles problems. Proceeding from the traditional values of establishing others in seeking to establish oneself and do not do unto others what one does not want done to oneself, the Communist Party of China has promoted reforms, furthered opening up, and facilitated world peace and development.

The third reflection is that the Chinese people are especially hardworking. Our brilliant achievements in the past 70 years did not fall from the sky, nor were they stolen or robbed from elsewhere. They were the result of sweat, toil, wisdom and courage of all Chinese people of every ethnicity. Whatever difficulty and resistance come our way, no matter what extreme pressure or challenge we face, against repeated interference by western forces in our internal affairs attempting to disrupt Hong Kong and bring down China, and amid unscrupulous vilification of China's efforts in combating violence and uprooting terrorism by countries with dismal human rights record , the Chinese people have responded with poise while remained firmly committed to safeguarding global justice, fairness and achieving independent sustainable development with all countries that share this goal.

The Chinese people love peace, advocate openness and tolerance. The Chinese culture believes in benevolence, a world for all, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. We oppose zero-sum games and bullying. The Chinese people believe that a good world is good for China, and the world is better as China grows better.

October 1 is not only China's National Day, but also the Independence Day of Cyprus. Both China and Cyprus have a long and glorious history and culture. We are both peace-loving nations that rose from a colonial past. We have sympathized and supported each other in the struggle for national liberation. We stand for equality for all countries, big or small. We emphasize "One China" and "One Cyprus". We oppose intimidation and peace breakers. We support all efforts towards the peaceful resolution of the Cyprus Problem. We look forward to working with Cyprus for win-win results. In recent years, despite tremendous changes in the international situation, the friendly relations between China and Cyprus remain unchanged. Our mutual political trust has deepened with frequent high-level exchanges. President Anastasiades attended the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing in April. President of the House of Representatives Mr. Demetris Syllouris will also visit China in November this year. The exchanges and cooperation between our two countries in various fields are blooming and fruitful. Our two sides have signed important cooperation agreements such as mutual recognition of academic degrees and qualifications, extradition treaty, MOU on Belt and Road cooperation, and plan for cultural exchanges.

At present, as Cyprus vigorously promotes economic restructuring, rebranding the tourism sector, exploring offshore oil and gas resources, and playing a growing role in safeguarding regional peace and stability. We look forward to a brighter future for China-Cyprus cooperation.

I wish to take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation to all Cypriot friends for your consistent attention and support for the development of China and China-Cyprus relations. China will continue to work with Cyprus and countries worldwide to advance the building of the Belt and Road Initiative and a community of shared destiny for mankind for the benefits of the people of China, Cyprus and around the world.