19 November 2010

Your Excellency Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro,

Your Excellency Under-Secretary-General Kiyotaka Akasaka,

Madam Guo Shan, Chairman of Alliance of Asia-Pacific Region Orchestras and President of China Symphony Development Foundation,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am greatly honored to attend tonight's concert held for the launching of the United Nations Academic Impact. On behalf of the Permanent Mission of China to the UN, I wish to extend my warmest congratulations on the launching of the event. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to the Department of Public Information, Alliance of Asia-Pacific Region Orchestras and China Symphony Development Foundation for the remarkable work they have done to make this event possible.

As the most authoritative and representative international organization in the world, the United Nations shoulders the important responsibility of maintaining international peace and promoting common development. To this end, the United Nations must consistently establish and develop new partnerships with an open and inclusive perspective to meet global challenges. The United Nations Academic Impact, initiated personally by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, is a great event based on such an aspiration.

Academic Impact fosters an important platform for the communication and cooperation between the United Nations and the international academic world. It will enable institutions of higher learning to play a bigger role in addressing global issues and promote the dialogue and exchanges between civilizations and cultures. To date, nearly 500 institutions of higher learning from more than 90 countries have participated in the event. We are confident that Academic Impact will make a great difference in promoting the UN ideals of peace, cooperation and development.

Music knows no boundary in bringing people together. It is of great significance to celebrate the launching of Academic Impact in the form of music. I wish to thank in particular the musicians from the Alliance of Asia-Pacific Region Orchestras. Their brilliant performance will give vivid expression to the spirit of cultural diversity and harmony advocated by the United Nations.

In closing, I wish the concert a great success and wish all of you a pleasant evening!

Thank you.