This is the assertion of Chinese Ambassador Song Tai in his message to usher in the New Year. Here follows the full text of Ambassador Song Tai’s message

“The Spring Festival of 2004, “the year of monkey”, is yet to come on January 22. At this special occasion of ringing out the old year and ringing in the new, I’m very happy, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy in Guyana, to extend greetings to all Chinese in Guyana, Guyanese friends from all walks of life, and colleagues from the diplomatic corps and international organizations.

“The year 2003 was an unusual one to China. The Chinese people of all ethnic groups worked hard and overcame numerous difficulties and challenges such as the SARS epidemic and many natural disasters, like earthquakes, floods and drought. Meanwhile, the Chinese people made concerted efforts to maintain speedy economic growth and overall development in all social undertakings. China also successfully launched its first manned spacecraft, which has been a long-cherished dream of the Chinese people.

“In the past year, China and Guyana witnessed a new development of their friendship and cooperation. In January, 2003, the Chinese government delegation headed by H.E. Vice Premier Wu Yi paid a fruitful visit to Guyana and signed four agreements with the Guyanese government, including Exchange of Notes on the Construction of the Guyana International Conference Center Project, aiming at enhancing bilateral economic and trade exchanges and cooperation between our two countries. In March, H.E. President Jagdeo paid a state visit to China, signing Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation between the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the bilateral relationship was further strengthened. Several other high-level visits were also made in 2003, such as the visit by H.E. Zhao Yang, Deputy Director of Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, to Guyana in January and Brigadier General Atherly’s visit to China in October. In January, we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first Chinese to Guyana. In October, a Chinese acrobatic troupe presented brilliant performances around Guyana. Also in the past year, China sent martial arts instructors, military band instructors, table tennis coaches and bamboo craft trainers to Guyana to help the Guyanese people in these fields. All above contributed to the splendid year of 2003.

“The year 2004 is the key time for the Chinese people to continue to make economic construction and stick to the pursuit of comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development. We shall improve our social undertakings in a comprehensive manner and continue making efforts to push forward the building of a well-off society in an all-round way. We shall continue to steadfastly implement the policy of “peaceful reunification, one country, two systems” and make unremitting efforts to promote the reunification of our motherland.

“The year 2004 will also see the further development of the bilateral relationship between China and Guyana. The Embassy will work diligently to push forward the exchange of high-level visits between the two countries to strengthen the mutual understanding and bilateral relations. Besides, the construction of GICC project is scheduled to begin this year. It will surely become a symbol of our long-standing friendship. Chinese survey team on restoration of the Moco Moco hydropower station is expected to be here next month. China is also sending experts in mushroom cultivation to Guyana, aiming at helping this country with the development of non-traditional agriculture. The Chinese Government is willing to explore new areas of cooperation and help Guyana with projects that are crucial to Guyana’s national economy and the people’s livelihood. The Chinese Government is fully confident that through the joint efforts, the projects mentioned above will surely strengthen bilateral economic and trade cooperation, enhance our mutual understanding, and further consolidate and develop the friendship between Chinese and Guyanese peoples.