H.E. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Mrs. Annan,
Under Secretaries-General Shashi Tharoor and Chen Jian,
Mr. and Mrs. Oshima, Mr. Wang Wusheng, and Mr. Murai,
All diplomatic envoys,
Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to come to today's opening ceremony and wish to thank you all for your presence.

Entering this hall, we feel transferred into an entirely different world, far away from the metropolitan noise and bustle, and only with mountains and rocks, clouds and mists, grass and trees. The message conveyed is peace and harmony as a tribute to the idea of "living together with Nature". This conforms to purposes of the Organization and explains why this exhibition is here.

As you know, Mount Huangshan has been Mr. Wang Wusheng's central artistic motif for 30 years. As was described by the ancient Chinese poet: once you have seen Mount Huangshan, there is no need to see any other mountains. However, most of us visitors find it hard to describe our feelings. I think Mr. Wang's works successfully manifest the spirit and soul of these unique mountains. Though his tools are lenses, his works are like traditional Chinese ink paintings. The more ethnic it is, the more it belongs to the world. I am sure with this exhibition, more and more people in the world will get to know Mr. Wang's works.

Mr. Higashiyama is a Japanese master painter. His paintings are known for elegance and tranquility. He visited China many times and contributed greatly to the friendship between our two peoples.

The Art has no boundaries. I believe today's exhibition can further promote mutual understanding and cultural exchanges among people of China, Japan and the rest of the world.

I wish the exhibition a complete success.

Thank you.