Commissioner Lü Xinhua and Mme. Zhang Jingya hosted a New Year reception for foreign consular corps and officially recognized bodies in Hong Kong on January 15 2010. Over 200 guests including foreign consuls general, honorary consuls, representatives of international organizations in Hong Kong and relevant officials from the Government of the Hong Kong SAR attended the reception.

Commissioner Lü Xinhua Speaking

Commissioner Lü spoke at the reception. On behalf of the Commissioner's Office, he first conveyed warm greetings and best wishes to the guests, and spoke highly of the work foreign consular agencies and offices of international organizations in Hong Kong did in the past year to promote trade, economic cooperation and personnel exchanges between Hong Kong and foreign countries.

The commissioner described the year 2009 as unusual for both China and the world at large. In 2009, the Chinese people celebrated the 60th anniversary for the founding of the People's Republic in a strong sense of pride for the development and progress their motherland had attained. China worked with other countries to jointly tackle the international financial crisis, climate change and other global issues. In particular, China took decisive measures and succeeded in turning its economy upward on the whole, thus contributing to stability and development of the world economy.

Faced with the impact of the international financial crisis, the SAR Government, with the strong support from the Central Government, calmly took proper measures and managed to effectively stabilize and grow its economy. Hong Kong also played a unique role in the reform of the international financial system.

Commissioner Lü Xinhua expressed the hope that, in the new year, the Commissioner's Office could strengthen cooperation with foreign consular agencies and the representation of international organizations in Hong Kong, and make more efforts to promote mutual benefits and win-win results between China and foreign countries and expand the exchanges and cooperation between the Hong Kong SAR and foreign countries.

Drinking a Toast

The guests praised China for the remarkable achievements it had attained in the 60 years since its founding, hailed the significant role China had played on global issues like the international financial crisis and climate change, and spoke highly of the progress Hong Kong made in the past year.