Consul General Dr. Sun Dali held reception at his residence on Feb. 12^th to celebrate Chinese New Year which falls on the 16^th of February this year. Attending the reception were 60-plus guests including Lord Lieutenant Sir Warren Smith, High Sheriff of Greater Manchester Gerry Yeung, Lord Mayors of Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, York, Derby, Cheshire East,Mayors of 8 Greater Manchester towns and boroughs, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Pro-Vice Chancellors of local universities, Consul Generals of other countries and institutions with China links.

Dr. Sun made the following speech:

The past year marked the 45th anniversary of the ambassadorial diplomatic relations between China and UK, during which counties and cities in our consular region responded enthusiastically to China's 'Belt and Road Initiative' by actively exploring cooperation opportunities, strengthening ties with China to unprecedented levels. I hereby would like to say thank-you to you and through you to all who have worked towards promoting China-UK cooperation and friendship.

Over the past year, Chinese economy grew at 6.9%, better than expected with our national GDP reaching 9 trillion pounds, accounting for 15% of world's total. The past year has seen a number of major innovation and engineering success stories in China. During the past 5 years, China has lifted 66 million people out of poverty and Chinese people's disposable income increased by 7.3 percent in 2017, enabling them to make over 120 million overseas trips in one year, and China is now home to 1/5 of world's enrolled university students.

In 2017, the 19th National Congress of the CPC was held at which General Secretary Xi Jinping made clear that the Communist Party of China has always seen it as its mission, to make new and greater contribution to human society. As a responsible global leader, China has been actively promoting world peace, economic growth and social advancement abiding by its principle of wide consultation, joint contribution and shared benefit, which has won compliments worldwide.

 British Prime Minister Theresa May rounded up her successful visit to China earlier this month, where she and President Xi Jinping pledged to upgrade the "golden era" in bilateral relations by promoting strategic partnership, enhancing practical cooperation, working together on global challenges and adopting an overall vision. Business deals worth 9 billion pounds were signed during May's visit. We sincerely hope China and UK will seize upon the opportunities presented by the Golden Era of bilateral relations and Belt and Road Initiative and strengthen communication and cooperation so as to ensure a stable and sustainable development for our relations that benefit the two peoples. 

Finally, I hope our relations scale new heights in the new year. I wish you all the happiness and success in the year of the dog.