H.E. Liu QiMember of the Political Bureau of the 
CPC Central Committee,
 Secretary of Beijing Municipal Committee of CPC

Ladies and gentlemen, friends,

Beijing in September is celebrated for its clear autumn sky and bracing air. In such a beautiful season, it is my great pleasure to get together with friends from various countries, who have come to attend the 3rd International Conference of Asian Political Parties, and renew our friendship. First of all, on behalf of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the City Government, and the 14 million Beijing residents, I would like to extend our cordial congratulations on the opening of the Conference and our warm welcome to all the honorable guests.

Beijing is a famous ancient city with rich culture. It has a history of 3000 years as a city and a history of 800 years as a capital. Following the founding of the People’s Republic of China, this ancient capital has had a new lease of life. With the enthusiastic and down-to-earth efforts of the Municipal Committee of the CPC, the Municipal Government, and the people of the entire city, under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and guided by Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of “Three Represents”, Beijing has undergone tremendous changes that have attracted worldwide attention. Proceeding from the local conditions, we have been committed to developing high and new-tech industries, as well as modern manufacturing and service industries by making full use of our scientific, technological and intellectual advantages. Now the city’s economy is growing with full vitality, with urban modernization reaching a higher standard and various social undertakings witnessing an all-round development. Last year, the GDP of Beijing reached RMB 361.19 billion yuan. Per capita GDP reached US$ 3,819. The foreign trade volume has amounted to more than US$ 68.4 billion. In over two decades since the beginning of the reform and opening-up, we have approved 19,759 foreign funded enterprises in total and the amount of executed foreign direct investment has reached US$21.3 billion. The increase of GDP and of income of the citizens have all surpassed or approached 30 times.

The fundamental reason behind these achievements is that we have the leadership of the CPC. Up to now, there are more than 1.36 million members and over 6500 grass-root organizations of the CPC in Beijing. They have played an important role in mobilizing the broad masses of the people from all fronts across the city to take their active parts in the reform, opening-up and modernization drive in Beijing.

As China now entering a stage of building a well-off society in an all-round way, Beijing has also come to a crucial time of implementing the strategic concept of “New Beijing, Great Olympics”. “New Beijing” refers to our commitment to promoting comprehensive and coordinated economic and social progress by taking the opportunity of hosting the Olympic Games in our strive to become one of the leading cities in China to reach the target of preliminary modernization. By “Great Olympics” we mean to do our utmost in all the preparation work to ensure that the Beijing Olympic Games will be a great success and will record a chapter with Chinese characteristics in the Olympic history. It is a historic task for us to grasp the opportunity and go all out for a superb Olympiad in 2008 as a means to speed up our drive towards modernization. With the closing of the Athens Olympiad, the preparations for the Beijing Games have entered a tough period with lots of formidable and pressing tasks. In accordance with the concept of scientific development, we are working towards a comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development by adhering to the principle of putting people in the first place, while losing no time in accomplishing the goals set forth in the strategy of “New Beijing, Great Olympics”. We hope that our friends from other countries will take interest in and give support to our development.

With the on-going economic globalization, relations between different Asian countries and regions are getting closer and closer, and there is an increasing space for the flow of capital, technology, personnel and other essential factors of production. Under such circumstances, no country can develop itself without opening to the outside world. It is therefore essential for us to further expand the scope and improve the standard of our opening-up endeavor. We are willing to have more contacts and collaboration with friends from other countries. We will be happy to welcome people from all over the world to come and visit Beijing, and to set up their businesses here. We will receive our foreign friends with more open policies, better environment, and most cordial services. We hope, on the basis of exchanges and cooperation, we will constantly improve mutual understanding and enhance consensus with our friends with a view to achieving common prosperity and common development.

Finally, I would like once again to express our welcome to all of you and wish you a pleasant stay in Beijing.