Good evening. My wife and I feel very much delighted and greatly honored to be invited to join you at this auspicious occasion. I wish, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy, to extend my warm congratulations on the sixth Anniversary of Confucius Institute at Vilnius University, and wish you continuous success in the years to come.

Six years are a short while in the history of relations between our two nations, let alone to say the long process of human history, but the past six years were quite unusual for Confucius Institute. Thanks to the support and guidance of the leadership of Vilnius University and Liaoning University, and great efforts and dedication of the entire staff, Confucius Institute at Vilnius University started from scratch and has now become an important institution, playing a more and more active and important role not only in teaching the Chinese language and literature or promoting the Chinese culture in Lithuania, but also in promoting the mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of our two countries. I wish to take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation to the Rectors, Pro-Rectors, Directors of the Center of Oriental Studies, Directors of Confucius Institute and the entire staff, and to all those who have been caring and supporting the development of Confucius Institute.

Ladies and Gentlemen: All nations of the world have each created a distinctive and unique culture of their own in the course of the development of humankind, which make up the rich and colorful world culture. History and reality both prove that it is conducive to the progress of human civilization to increase cultural exchanges between different nations. Arts, including music, songs and dances, which is a universal language of humankind and one of the richest means of expression for virtually every society, empowers us to surmount the barriers of geographical location, language and culture. I believe that you have experienced various kinds of arts of different nations. However, the performance that we are going to experience tonight is a unique part of the Chinese culture, which, I hope, will leave you some good impression.

Please enjoy the performance, and I wish you an enjoyable evening.