On 1 August, Chinese Ambassador to Sweden Cui Aimin attended the 2024 Farewell Event for Swedish Students to Study in China and delievered remarks. The full text is as follows:

Dear students, parents, and friends,

Good morning.

Welcome to the Chinese Embassy for the farewell event for the Swedish students who are going to study in China. First of all, please join me in warmly congratulating this year's recipients of the Chinese Government Scholarship and all thestudents who are going to study in China! At the same time, let's express our heartfelt appreciation to all the friends who are going to share their studying experience in China.

When talking about China, many friends naturally think of the long history and splendid culture of this ancient oriental country, and the Silk Road that connected the East and West across the Eurasian continent and promoted the development of world trade as well as the friendly exchanges among different peoples. Some friends might also know that new China, after 75 years of development, has made huge achievements in economic and social development, eliminated absolute poverty, completed the building of a moderately prosperous society, and become the second largest economy in the world, creating miracles of human society. Those friends who have been to China might also be impressed by China's rapid development with positive changes happening every day and things turning for the better in all aspects.

While these observations about China in its past and present are all well-founded, I'd like to talk about China's future development here today. We are now advancing Chinese modernization. It is the modernization of a huge population. It is the modernization of common prosperity for all. It is the modernization of material and cultural-ethical advancement. It is the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature. It is the modernization of peaceful development. To this end, we will advance high-quality development on all fronts through higher-standard reform and opening up, and implement the new development strategy that is driven by innovation. Chinese modernization not only means self-development, but also benefits the world, and will inject great stability and certainty into this world of volatility and transformation.

We will stay committed to the path of peaceful development and the independent foreign policy of peace, and will always be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order. We will follow the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, and work with all countries to build a world with lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity, a world that is open, inclusive, clean and beautiful.

China and Sweden have no historical grievances, no geopolitical disputes, still less conflicts of interest. Both our two sides support multilateralism and free trade. We draw on each other's comparative strengths and enjoy broad prospects for cooperation in many sectors, such as green and low-carbon development, sustainable development, and climate response. Sweden is China's fourth largest investment destination among the EU countries and China's largest trading partner in the Nordic region. China is Sweden's largest trading partner in Asia. The practical cooperation between our two countries has delivered tangible benefits for our two peoples. Education exchanges and scientific and research cooperation have been a priority for deepening China-Sweden relations. To strengthen exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and Sweden universities will help better promote the economic and social development of our two countries, drive the advancement of science and education, and strengthen the traditional friendship between our two peoples.

As the saying goes, seeing is believing. You are welcome to visit China whenever you have the time, to experience the constantly developing and progressing China, to make more Chinese friends, and to explore more opportunities of cooperation. We hope you will pay more attention to China, and do more things that are conducive to deepening China-Sweden friendship and cooperation. The Chinese Embassy will do its best to provide you with help and assistance.

Lastly, I would like to extend my best wishes for success in your academic pursuits, progress in your professional career, and happiness of and friendship between the Chinese and Swedish peoples.

Thank you!