（May 4th, 2024）

Vice Governor Jiang Er’xiong,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Friends,

Good morning!

Welcome to the Chinese embassy in this beautiful spring. Our open house this year is themed “Refreshing Fujian: Starting Point of the Maritime Silk Road”. We are most honored to be joined by friends from Fujian Province, who will lead us into this “land of blessings”, and showcase its vibrant culture.

Fujian’s story is a story of an open China. The ancient maritime Silk Road started here. Over 1,000 years ago, in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, ports like Quanzhou bustled with ships from around the world, and Eastern and Western cultures met in harmony. It was also from here that Zheng He, the famous navigator, made seven voyages overseas in the 15th century, sowing seeds of peace and friendship.

Fujian’s story is a story of an enterprising China. There is a popular saying in southern Fujian, “Work hard and you will win.” Fujian is the homeland for about 15.8 million overseas Chinese. Spanning across 188 countries and regions, they have made important contribution to local development. When working at Ningde prefecture in 1988, then party secretary Xi Jinping led the people to fight poverty. Since then, Ningde has set a model for targeted poverty reduction, with its Chixi village as a shining example. Today, Fujian is going all out to promote rural revitalization.

Fujian’s story is a story of a beautiful China. Green is gold. In May 2021, China’s first batch of forest carbon credit stamps were issued in Changkou village, Sanming city of Fujian. It works like this: plant more trees, and you will get more credits, which can then be used in exchange for carbon emission quotas. As a result, the sky is bluer, the mountains greener, and the water clearer.

Fujian’s story is also a story of China-U.S. friendship. In 1901, Milton Gardner, still a baby, came with his parents to Kuliang, a summer retreat in suburban Fuzhou. The family returned to California in 1911. Mr. Gardner had longed to revisit his childhood home ever since, but had never been able to do so. In the final hours of his life, he kept uttering the word, “Kuliang, Kuliang...” After learning about the story in 1992, then Fuzhou’s party chief Xi Jinping invited Mrs. Gardner to visit Kuliang. Her husband’s dream finally came true.

Over the past three decades, the Kuliang story lives on. Members of the “Kuliang Friends”, who are descendants of American families that once lived there, have worked tirelessly to deepen mutual understanding between the two peoples, and renew our friendship in the new era.

Dear friends,

Last November, President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden agreed in San Francisco that the two countries will jointly promote people-to-people exchanges, and support greater interactions between the two peoples. Culture is a bridge that brings hearts together. At the open house today, you will see the best of Chinese culture, have a bite of Chinese delicacies, and witness a developing China. I wish you all a most pleasant and unforgettable experience.

Thank you.