Dear overseas Chinese, Chinese institutions, students, media and friends in the Chinese consular district in Dubai,

Good evening!

Out with the year of the Ox and in with the year of the Tiger. Tonight, we gather here online to celebrate the Chinese New Year. On behalf of the Chinese Consulate General in Dubai, I would like to extend my best wishes to all the overseas Chinese, Chinese institutions, students and friends in our consular district, and express my heartfelt gratitude for your care, support and assistance.

The past year is a milestone for China, China-UAE relations, the Chinese Consulate General in Dubai, and the Chinese compatriots in our consular district. As we look back on the past struggles of our great motherland and look forward to the road ahead, we can say that we have overcome all kinds of difficulties and achieved tremendous success. Over the past year, China has eliminated absolute poverty, built a moderately prosperous society in all respects, coordinated economic development with COVID-19 prevention and control, and strengthened national strategic science and technology. The Chinese government has prioritized people’s top concerns by stabilizing employment, reducing students’ excessive academic burden, ensuring pension and healthcare, and securing the bottom line of people’s livelihood so that people’s sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security has been significantly enhanced. China has won battles against floods and other emergencies with swift response from courageous soldiers and firefighters, and effectively prevented the coronavirus from re-entering the country to cause a new epidemic by adopting a science-based precision approach to COVID-19 prevention and control, promoting vaccination, working together with the international community, and acting as a responsible major country to increase aid to others. China’s inspiring achievements and success of development have gained attention of the world. As President Xi Jinping solemnly stated on Tiananmen Square on July 1, 2021, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China: “Today, the image China presents to the world is one of a thriving nation that is advancing with unstoppable momentum toward rejuvenation.”

Looking back at the past year, China and the UAE have fought together against the COVID-19 pandemic and supported each other for common development. The two governments have had exceptional mutual trust in each other and cooperated in a spirit of good faith, and the two peoples have pulled together to move forward. In his video message at the opening of the China Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, President Xi Jinping highly appreciated the significance of World Expo, and called on the people of all countries to work together, respond to the call of the times, strengthen global governance, pursue innovation-driven development, and advance the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. Last year, 1,500 date palm seedlings donated by the UAE arrived in China’s Hainan Island, opening up a new field of cooperation between the two countries. Science and technology of China and the UAE also advanced rapidly. China’s Tianwen-1 spacecraft and the UAE’s Hope probe both entered into the orbit of Mars, creating a legend in outer space. The year 2021 was the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the 50th anniversary of the founding of the UAE. It is in this year that China began to embark on a new journey to build a great modern socialist country, and the UAE announced its development plan for the next 50 years and its vision for 2050. By doing so, the two countries have both shown their ambitions for future development. Facing the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, China and the UAE have deepened cooperation and achieved win-win development. China has remained the largest trading partner of Dubai. The robust bilateral trade between the two parties has become an engine and driver of the UAE economic growth. China and the UAE have set a good example for the world to achieve win-win cooperation and development based on mutual benefit. The China-UAE comprehensive strategic partnership will surely have a brighter future.

Looking back at the past year, the Chinese Consulate General in Dubai and the overseas Chinese have moved forward hand in hand to control the COVID-19 pandemic in our consular district and provide best possible consular services.

Facing the complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic in our consular district, the Chinese Consulate General in Dubai has always put the people and their lives first, leading the Chinese compatriots to fight back. We continued to advance the Spring Sprout Action. Under our facilitation, the Dubai Health Authority provided more than 30,000 doses of vaccines for Chinese citizens coming to the UAE on a short-term visa at a price far below the cost, and offered them a sufficient number of appointments for booster shots, thus effectively protecting the overseas Chinese in the UAE against the pandemic. We paid a few visits to the COVID-19 testing agencies in our consular district and requested these agencies to align their testing standards with those of China’s so as to continuously improve the accuracy of their results. With the full support of leaders of the overseas Chinese in our consular district, we comprehensively strengthened the on-site identity verification of people taking COVID-19 tests for traveling to China, and cracked down on impersonation in these tests so that the order of travels between China and the UAE could be maintained.

Facing the complex public sentiments among the Chinese community in our consular district, we have always believed that all difficulties will be overcome as long as we try our best. Despite fewer face-to-face meetings with you due to the pandemic, our hearts have grown ever closer. Over the past year, we have made every effort to do a good job in pandemic-related assistance and rescue. We upgraded our joint prevention and control mechanism to one featuring joint prevention, control and protection so as to prevent infection, control the pandemic and protect people’s well-being. We issued more than 30 pandemic-related reminders to advise the overseas Chinese in our consular district to strengthen pandemic prevention and be vigilant against coronavirus mutations. We provided medicines and counseling services to the overseas Chinese with confirmed COVID-19 recorded in our system to help them recover as soon as possible. We worked with airlines to help dozens of passengers get ticket refunds associated with the pandemic. We launched an initiative to provide free meals to overseas Chinese in need and received unanimous support from major overseas Chinese groups in our consular district. We strove to ensure that all overseas Chinese in our consular district have food and shelter, and stay healthy, safe and employed. These efforts have set a good example for Chinese institutions overseas to steady their staff where they are during the pandemic, and created a fraternal and friendly atmosphere in our consular district.

Facing the increasing demand for consular services in our consular district, we have served people wholeheartedly though diplomatic work and striven to promote the high-quality development of consular services. Over the past year, we have provided 24/7 hotline services. We answered more than 20,000 calls related to consular protection, travelling documents and the COVID-19 pandemic. You could reach us by phone anytime and anywhere. We accepted more than 1,500 consular protection cases and helped more than 20,000 overseas Chinese solve their difficulties and address their needs with no one left behind. We made every effort to rescue trapped Chinese people and crack down on violations and crimes, effectively protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the overseas Chinese in our consular district. We upgraded our travelling document services through the full launch of China Consular Affairs App so that you could enjoy convenient and comfortable passport services from home in our consular district.

Looking back at the past year, the overseas Chinese in our consular district have fought together against the COVID-19 pandemic with courage and a strong sense of responsibility. Under the mechanism of joint prevention, control and protection, the overseas Chinese in the UAE pulled together with unity to battle against the pandemic. For weeks, they wore protective clothing under the scorching sun to help us verify the identity of people travelling to China at testing agencies and crush impersonation in tests so as to effectively implement pre-departure prevention and control measures. They proactively responded to our initiative to help the overseas Chinese in need in our consular district by donating more than 200,000 dirhams and providing more than 5,000 free meals so that these people could live in comfort. The overseas Chinese in our consular district also actively participated in the activities staged by the China Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai as well as the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the UAE, showcasing the good spirit of the Chinese community. By doing each small thing in a great way, each one of you have contributed to the building of a good image of the Chinese people and good reputation of our motherland. Every one of you is a star!

My fellow compatriots and friends.

Our journey ahead will be a long and arduous one. Only by pressing ahead with perseverance can we have much to expect. While we are excited about the fruitful results we have achieved over the past year, we should also stay alert to the current development of the pandemic. As the Omicron variant is on the rise, the number of confirmed cases in our consular district is increasing. On behalf of the Chinese Consulate General in Dubai, I would like to take this opportunity to call on you to respond to the mechanism of joint prevention, control and protection. I would like to ask all the overseas Chinese groups and leaders in our consular district to take full advantage of your leading role to remind others to pay close attention to the risk of the pandemic, actively participate in the local vaccination program and the Spring Sprout Action booster program so as to enhance their protection against the pandemic. Flights between Dubai and Guangzhou have resumed recently. Passengers going to China should comply with relevant prevention and control policies to conduct pre-departure isolation and observation and stay alert to affection during their journey so as to join us to maintain continuous and stable operation of flights and enjoy a healthy and safe Chinese New Year.

As spring is around the corner, Beijing will host the 2022 Winter Olympics, becoming the first city in the world to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Once again China is opening its arms to the world. In the meantime, Expo 2020 Dubai is excitingly going on. Beijing and Dubai will continue to shine at the east and west ends of Asia and the future of China-UAE cooperation and development will be ever brighter.

This year, China has embarked on a new journey toward realizing its second centenary goal of building a great modern socialist country. In the future, China will open its arms wider to embrace the world, contribute the dynamic achievements of Chinese civilization to a better world, and continue the glory of the Chinese nation in the long history of mankind. The celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the UAE has come to a close, turning a new page in the country’s history and marking the beginning of a great journey for the next 50 years. We firmly believe that China and the UAE share the same philosophy and goal of development, which are making new contributions to China-UAE relations over the 100 years. We look forward to the promising prospect of China-UAE development. Working together, the two countries will surely write a new chapter of win-win cooperation and add new strength to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind

Finally, on behalf of the Chinese Consulate General in Dubai, I would like to extend my best wishes to all Chinese compatriots in our consular district. Wish you all a safe, healthy, and prosperous year of the Tiger teemed with happiness, luck and vitality. Happy Chinese New Year!