（5th December, Royal Danish Theatre’s Old Stage）
Your Royal Highness Crown Prince,
Your Excellency Mr. Li Jinzao, Chairman of China National Tourism Administration ( CNTA)
Your Excellency Mr. Brian Mikkelsen, Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs
Mr. Antti Peltomaki, Deputy Director-General of the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Directorate-General
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear friends,
I am very happy to get together with you in the Closing Ceremony of the China-Denmark Tourism Year. First of all, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy in Denmark, I would like to extend my warm congratulations to the success of China-Denmark Tourism Year! And our sincere thanks go to those who have facilitated and supported the China-Denmark Tourism Year as well as those who have dedicated themselves to the development of China-Denmark relations all along.
Co-hosting China-Denmark Tourism Year was an important consensus reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, with a view to expanding and deepening the overall bilateral ties. It is also the important implementation of China-Denmark Joint Work Program. The two leaders respectively sent written congratulatory messages to the opening ceremony of the tourism year, kicking off a series of activities under the framework of tourism year.
Danish royal family and government of Denmark lay great emphasis on China-Denmark relations and bilateral cooperation, and actively support related events of the Tourism Year. Your Royal Highness Crown Prince is the patron of the Tourism Year , and participated in ‘Denmark Days’ during the visit to China, highlighting the Tourism Year. We sincerely respect and appreciate the efforts of Your Royal Highness. Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, Mr. Brian Mikkelsen, Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, Mr. Anders Samuelsen, Minister for Foreign Affairs respectively attended various tourism promotions in China, broadening the horizon of bilateral people-to-people exchanges.
As the Chinese saying goes, “One who travels knows far more.” H. C. Andersen also has much the same feeling that translates into "To travel is to live". Indeed, tourism is a bridge that links different cultures and enhances understanding between peoples, thereby consolidating the "people-to-people bond", one of the ultimate goals of Belt and Road Initiative. The "China-Denmark Tourism Year", as the first tourism year ever hosted by China and an EU member state, boosts the closer cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China, the Ancient Oriental Civilization and Denmark, the Nordic Kingdom of fairy tales, preluding the upcoming 2018 "China-EU Tourism Year".
Today, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. China will adhere to peaceful development, building a community with a shared future for mankind, which offers golden opportunities for further deepening China-Denmark relations, broadening exchanges and cooperation. Next year marks the 10th anniversary of China-Denmark Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Bilateral coordination will step into a new stage. I am glad to share with you that the Foundation Laying Ceremony for the Panda House was successfully held in Copenhagen Zoo. And I am now expecting my two assistants to settle in the Kingdom of Fairy Tales soon. As a result of the dramatic increase in the volume of mutual visits, both countries are planning to open more direct flights between Beijing and Copenhagen, further narrowing the distance between the two peoples.
China-Denmark relationship is an important part of overall China-EU relationship. Deepened cultural interactions between China and Denmark will be conducive to China-Nordic and China-EU relations. The successful conclusion of "China-Denmark Tourism Year" is a new starting point to boost China-Denmark and China-EU cultural interactions. I am fully confident that with our concerted efforts, China-Denmark and China-EU Relations will develop to a new high!
Thank you!