Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends:

Good afternoon!

It is a real delight to join you at the "Weaving Dreams, Spinning Wonders – a Showcase of the Dali Rich Tapestry of Chinese Culture" Event.

This event, held during the 15th World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention (WCEC), bears special significance. It not only showcases the integration of ethnic culture with modern fashion. It also tells the story of Chinese enterprises that have carried forward the Chinese culture, lived up to their corporate responsibility and promoted China-UK exchanges and cooperation.

First, it tells the story of how traditional Chinese culture is preserved and how it is given a new life in today's world.

China boasts colourful and unique ethnic culture. The best example is the traditional costume of various ethnic groups.

In 2017, the Chinese Government issued the Plan on Revitalizing China's Traditional Crafts. This plan is aimed at advocating respect for tradition, encouraging creativity and increase employment.

Since launching the Embroidery Dreams Project, Eve Group has set up 1,200 Dreams Workshops and 16 Village Museums in Guizhou, Yunnan, Gansu and Tibet. They have also established a database for more than 5,000 traditional embroidery patterns. This is a new model of productive protection. It is a successful example of preserving traditional crafts and carrying it forward.

Today's show will focus on the traditional crafts of Bai and Yi people from Dali, Yunnan province. It will give us a taste of how the traditional culture of these ethnic minorities embraced modern elements to create a unique style.

Second, today's event tells the story of targeted and creative poverty reduction.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The past 70 years have witnessed more than 700 million people lifted out of poverty. That is about the entire population of Europe. It is a miracle in the history of human development.

Today, China continues to work relentlessly to promote poverty reduction. Our aim is to eradicate absolute poverty completely by 2020. This will be a milestone in the thousands of years of Chinese history. It will also be a huge contribution to the global poverty reduction.

The Embroidery Dreams Project is a creative business model. It is based on traditional crafts and, after 16 years, it has enabled more than 10,000 seamstresses to say goodbye to poverty through their hard work.

I hope and believe that more and more similar projects will emerge in China, and they will enable more people to get rid of poverty and live a happy life.

Third, today's event tells the story of China-UK exchanges and cooperation.

In recent years, thanks to the joint efforts of our two countries, China-UK cultural exchanges and cooperation on creative industry have borne fruitful results.

Two years ago, the Chinese Embassy in the UK and Eve Group jointly staged a fashion show, which was filled with the charm of tradition blending with fashion trend. Today, we have another opportunity to enjoy the rich tapestry of Chinese culture at the WCEC in London. I am confident that this event will give a fresh boost to the mutual learning between Chinese and British culture, and contribute more outcomes to China-UK exchanges and cooperation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to quote an ancient Chinese poem to conclude my remarks:

On the river wide at high tide;

A sail with ease hangs in light breeze.

Let us hoist the sail in the breeze of the fifteenth WCEC and carry forward the spirit of "Embroidery Dreams". Together we can create new business models, produce new outcomes and write new stories of cooperation!

In conclusion, I wish this cultural event great success!

Thank you!