Making friends

China’s EU ambassador believes the upcoming Olympics in Beijing are a unique opportunity to promote mutual friendship and cooperation

For the first time in history, on 8 August, a developing country will host the Olympics. China, the world’s most populous nation, with a 5000-year history and a brilliant culture, will be the stage for this great sporting occasion.

The Beijing games, however, belong not only to China but to the whole world. We believe that in hosting the games, not only will China be even more open to the world but my country and the world will get to know more about and understand each other.

The Chinese people hope that through the games, more of China’s history, culture, tradition and way of life – as well as its prosperity and progress – will be known to the rest of the world. And the people of China, a nation of confidence, friendliness and soundness, want to pursue peace, friendship and progress with other peoples of the world, and aspire for a harmonious world of enduring peace and common prosperity.  

Beijing is working for a distinctive and high-level event based on three pillars: a green Olympics, a high-tech Olympics and a people’s Olympics. ‘One world, one dream’ is the theme of the event, which appropriately expresses the common wishes of people all over the world to strive for a bright future for mankind inspired by the Olympic ideals. It is our belief that peace and progress, harmonious development, cooperation and mutual benefit are the common ideals of people throughout the world.

In spite of the differences of colour, language and race, we all share the charm and joy of the games, and together we seek the ideal of mankind for peace. The Beijing games present a major opportunity for enhancing friendship among countries, for pursuing human progress and building a harmonious world.

As the host, China will provide a good service, excellent venues and accommodation to all the athletes, coaches and guests from around the world. The games are a get-together for all the people in the world and a stage for mutual understanding, communication and friendship among them. We would like to work together with Europeans and peoples of other countries to ensure the success of the games.

Undoubtedly, the games will have a positive impact on contacts and cooperation between China and the EU. As the event is preceded by Athens and followed by London, it is especially significance to sustain the friendly sentiments between China and the EU, as the Olympic torch is passed from a European city to Beijing and onwards again to another European city. The Beijing games will display the Olympic spirit of unity, friendship, progress, harmony, participation and dreams. It will serve as a bridge of friendship and cooperation between athletes and the people of China and the EU.

Significantly, it will also provide enormous business opportunities to European companies and contribute to economic cooperation and trade between China and the EU. Moreover, it is noteworthy that European commission president José Manuel Barroso has recently made a successful visit to China with a strong line-up. China will host the seventh Asia-Europe (ASEM) summit soon after the games and Chinese leaders will attend the 11th China-EU Summit in Lyon at the end of the year. It can be said that 2008 is both the Olympic year and a year of in-depth contacts, exchanges and cooperation between China and the EU.

We hope that the Beijing Olympics, together with the ASEM summit and the China-EU summit will give new impetus to the healthy and stable development of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership and bring more benefits to the Chinese and European people.