Your Excellency Dr. Edgar Lungu, President of the Republic of Zambia,

Your Excellency Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, First President of the Republic of Zambia,

Honorable Ministers and Members of Parliament,

Permanent Secretaries and Senior Government Officials,

Friends from the Media,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon!

The China-aided International Conference Center is implemented with the joint support of the Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping and the Zambian President Mr. Edgar Lungu. The ground breaking of the international conference center today is a reflection of the traditional friendship between China and Zambia. It is another fruitful achievement of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. Taking this opportunity, I would like to express my warm congratulations to the ground breaking of this project and extend my heartfelt thanks to the people of China and Zambia who have made contributions to the project.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen,

In order to support Zambia’s mission to host the 2022 African Union Summit, and promote Zambia’s international exchanges and cooperation, through friendly consultations, China has agreed to provide assistance to build a high quality international conference center for Zambia. The scale of the facility is 24,000 square meters, offering a capacity of 3500 seats. It will be the largest conference center in Zambia and one of the largest ones in Africa. It is consisted of a big conference hall, multi-functional halls, VIP rooms, offices, a press center, an emergency medical center, a reception hall and other relevant service facilities. When completed, the facility will provide Zambia with a modern first-class international conference center for hosting the 2022 African Union Summit and other international events, as well as important public functions in the years to come. It will also enhance the exhibition capabilities and national image of Zambia.

Zambia is the first country in southern Africa to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. Our two countries have enjoyed a time-honored and ever closer friendship. This year marks the 56th anniversary of the establishment of China-Zambia diplomatic relations. In the past year, our bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields stood out at new levels and made rewarding great achievements. The political mutual trust between our two countries is enhancing, while economic and trade cooperation is deepening. From January to November 2019, China's direct investment in Zambia reached 475 million US Dollars, ranking first among all African countries and was well ahead of Nigeria, which ranked second with 287 million US Dollars. During the same period, bilateral trade volume between China and Zambia reached 3.9 billion US Dollars, of which Zambia exported 3 billion US Dollars and imported 900 million US Dollars. Zambia enjoyed a trade surplus of 2.1 billion US Dollars. A number of key projects of practical cooperation in the fields of energy, infrastructure, livelihood and manufacturing also made remarkable progress, which provides strong support to Zambia's industrialization and its 7th National Development Plan.

All these accomplishments cannot be achieved without the joint efforts of the two governments and the two peoples, under the leadership of the Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping and the Zambian President Mr. Edgar Lungu. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the Zambian government for its long-term support to the Chinese companies in Zambia, and to the Zambian people for their hospitality to the Chinese people working and living in Zambia.

Please also allow me to say a few words about the contractor of this project, the China Jiangsu International Economic and Technical Cooperation. This cooperation is one of the leading construction companies in China and it also operates in dozens of countries all over the world. China Jiangsu has a presence in the Zambian market for more than 20 years and has completed a series of projects including roads, housing and water supply. The company has developed rich experience in Zambia. It is my hope that China Jiangsu will overcome the difficulties of a tight schedule, as we are running against the time now from 2022. This job is very challenging and the tasks ahead are overwhelming. I sincerely expect that the project be completed on time and with high quality.

I am looking very much forward to appreciate an attractive new land mark facility erected right here in Mulungushi compound by the year 2022.

Thank you all!