The Chinese people have always held American entrepreneurship and creativity in high regards. In my younger years, I read the Federalist Papers and Thomas Paine's Common Sense. I was interested in the life story and thinking of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and other American statesmen. I also read works of Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Mark Twain and Jack London. I was most captivated by Earnest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea and its descriptions of howling wind, driving rain, roaring waves small boat, the old man and sharks. So when I visited Cuba for the first time, I paid a special visit to the breakwater in Cojimar where Hemingway wrote the book. And in my second visit of Cuba, I dropped by the bar Hemingway frequented and ordered a mojito, his favorite rum with mint leaves and ice. I just wanted to feel for myself what was on his mind and what the place was like as he wrote those stories. I believe that is always important to make an effort to get a deep understanding of the cultures and civilizations that are different from our own.

The Chinese character Ren or people is in the shape of two strokes supporting each other. The foundation of China-US friendship has its roots in the people, and its future rests with the youth. I wish to announce here that China supports the initiative of sending a total of 50,000 Chinese and American students to study in each other's countries over the next three years. China and the US will launch a Chin-US Year of Tourism in 2016. China on its part will create more favorable conditions for closer people-to-people exchanges.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends,

Dr. Kissinger wrote in his book World Order and I quote, that "each generation will be judged by whether the greatest, most consequential issues of the human condition have been faced." And Martin Luther King said, "The time is always right to do the right thing." Today, we have come once again to a historical juncture. Let us work together to bring about an even better future for China-US relations and make an even greater contribution to the happiness of our two peoples and the well-being of the people the world over.

Thank you.