Director-General Ms. Valovaya,

Director Yang Jianwu,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear friends,

Warm welcome to this opening ceremony of the paintings exhibition of the Song Dynasty from the “Great Collection of Chinese Paintings”. This is the first time over the last three years that the UN Chinese Language Day is celebrated on site. Together with the United Nations Office at Geneva, we have invited the Department of Culture and Tourism from China’s Zhengjiang province to present today’s paintings exhibition. In the meantime, we have organized as did before, a one-hour on-line program of video festival with the China Media Group, and it is also launched today. I wish to thank all of those involved for your efforts and contribution to make these events possible and successful.

The Song Dynasty is a golden age in terms of aesthetics, literature, philosophy and science achievements in China’s history. Paintings and calligraphers bear the historical memory of Chinese culture and are an important manifestation of the splendid eastern civilization. With the help of science and technology, the restored ancient paintings will take us back to the Song Dynasty of China more than 1000 years ago to appreciate the landscape, artistic achievements and people’s mind and life of that time.

Dear friends,

There is an old saying in China: “The ocean is vast for it refuses no rivers.” In the world today, civilizations of different parts of the world are all important components of human civilization, as hundreds of flowers in full blossom in the same garden. Under the current situation, we need to further explore the historic and cultural wisdom of different civilizations, so as to make joint efforts to tackle common challenges, and work together for a better world.

Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Civilization Initiative, calling on tolerance, coexistence, enhanced exchanges, mutual learning and better understanding among different civilizations, and to make the garden of world civilizations more colorful and vibrant. I hope today’s event will help you know more about China from historical and cultural perspective. I am sure, with the joint endeavor, the wisdom and strength of different civilizations will become a more dynamic and driving force for human progress!

Thank you very much.