Honorable Chairperson Burgess, Member of Parliament,

Honorable Premier Helen Zille of Western Province,

Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen,

Colleagues from the consular corps,

On behalf of the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Cape Town, I would like to extend to you our heartfelt greetings and warm welcome to the Chinese cultural evening. I would like to avail myself of this opportunity to express our gratitude to Tianjin Dance and Song Theater, Tianjin Acrobatic Company and Tianjin Tasly Group for their participation and support. I would also like to thank Cape Town Artscape for it cooperation. Assuredly, I would like to thank you all for joining us tonight. In the meantime, I will congratulate you because you are the luckiest capetonians, I mean we, the luckiest Capetonians, are to enjoy world top-notch acrobatic show. Tiajin artist troupe participated in South Africa national arts festival in Granhamestown on China-South Africa cultural exchange program. The Consulate General managed to have them to add one leg to Cape Town. It is only one night and exclusive show. They will treat you with dazzling acrobatic and passionate dance and music.

This is the first time of this kind of performance by Chinese acrobatic artists that Artscape has ever hosted since its inception. I believe it will not be the last. More and more cultural exchanges will follow because South Africa joined the BRIC countries before the end of last year, making BRIC into BRICS, an important “S” from the African continent is added. China has a history of 5000 years civilization, which is the heirloom of the Chinese people, but more importantly it is the heritage of mankind. Now China is happy to present it to the people the world over to share, enjoy and appreciate. And South Africa has made it contribution to the human civilization.

The artists’ acts speak louder than my words. Please enjoy their performance.

Thank you.