Premier Zhao Ziyang, members of the Chinese delegation, your excellencies, my lords, gentlemen.
We are delighted, Mr. Premier, that you accepted our invitation to pay an official visit to the United Kingdom.
We extend to you and all your delegation a very warm welcome.
You have been my host twice in Peking, in 1982 and again last December.
They were two of the most memorable visits abroad which I have made: memorable historically because we laid foundations for, and then set the seal on, the Joint [end p1] Declaration on Hong Kong: memorable personally because I have seldom received such magnificent hospitality.
I am delighted now to be able to take my turn as host.
I well remember the day in Peking last December when you and I signed the Joint Declaration on Hong Kong.
It was in the presence of Mr. Deng Xiaoping and of your President Mr. Li Xiannian.
Many Hong Kong representatives were also present and I am delighted that some of the most distinguished among them are also here [end p2] tonight.
Seven days ago in Peking, Vice-Minister Zhou Nan exchanged with Sir Richard Evans the instruments of ratification of that Joint Declaration and it entered into force. We believe that it provides a firm basis for Hong Kong's continued prosperity and stability.
We for our part will faithfully and fully implement its provisions.
And we are confident that the Chinese Government will do likewise.
It is an agreement which is good for China, good for Hong Kong and good for Britain, as [end p3] well as an example for the rest of the world.
Mr. Premier, Britain's contacts with China have been expanding at a truly remarkable rate, more comprehensively indeed than with any other country.
Total trade more than doubled between 1982 and 1984.
So did the number of Chinese visitors to Britain.
In the last month, we have welcomed to Britain your Ministers for Environment and Culture.
In the next month we look forward to seeing the Commander of your Air Force and your [end p4] Minister of Agriculture.
We are also building a sound framework of bilateral agreements for further cooperation. This afternoon we signed agreements on nuclear cooperation and on economic cooperation.
Exchanges in the fields of science, education and culture are more extensive than ever, and millions of your compatriots are learning English from the BBC.
Many British teachers and young people giving voluntary service are now engaged in full-time language teaching in China. [end p5]
These examples—and there are many more—illustrate a relationship which already has more substance than ever before, which is enjoying vigorous growth, and which is deeply rooted in the belief that such growth benefits us both.
Why is contact between us blossoming so rapidly? Your presence here tonight, Mr. Premier, supplies much of the answer.
You and your colleagues have, in recent years been engaged in implementing two basic policies: the policy of invigorating the national economy and the policy of opening to the outside world. [end p6]
Your economic policies have attracted much interest and admiration in Britain.
I recall that I said in the Great Hall of the People in December that, despite the differences between our economies, we are applying the same basic principles to the challenges we face.
You said in April in Wuhan: ‘opening generates competition and competition promotes progress and growth’.
We both realise the need to put our resources into what we do well; to raise efficiency; not to spend money we don't have; and to encourage innovation. [end p7]
I was very struck by a quotation from an early Chinese historian which was carried in People's Daily last year: “The way to govern a country is first to enrich the people” .
That principle is guiding you, and it is guiding us.
You have achieved some enviable successes.
I have been particularly impressed by your progress in agriculture.
With good reason you, Mr. Premier, gained a rhyming reputation for removing the need for grain rationing: [end p8]
“Yao chur liang, djao Ziyang”
In other words [Roughly: “If it's grain you seek, look for Zhao Ziyang” .]
We in Britain wish you success in your modernisation programme.
We are also very well placed to contribute to it.
As we hope to show you during the coming week, the British approach to problems, with its stress on imagination and ingenuity, matches your circumstances.
And British experience, in energy, [end p9] communications, transport; in industrial innovation, information technology and management consultancy, matches your priorities.
Technology transfer between Europe and China has ancient roots.
Much of the foundation for the West's industrial revolution was laid in China. The compass, gunpowder, paper and printing—your famous “four inventions” —as well as the seismograph, the suspension bridge and, of course, porcelain—all came to Europe from China.
A notable recent contribution, which [end p10] impressed me when I visited Shanghai, is the artificial synthesis of insulin.
We look forward to many more benefits to the world as your four modernisations bear fruit. And we are ready to reach agreements for the transfer of some of our most modern technology to you.
Mr. Premier, your country pursues an independent foreign policy.
The principles on which it rests, of “Equality and mutual benefit” , are ones which we in Britain respect.
We also work with you as fellow members of the Security Council with a shared concern to [end p11] promote peace and to seek realistic arms control measures.
We recognise indeed welcome China's growing influence on major world issues.
We listen to you carefully and I hope that you also find value in Britain's distinctive voice in international affairs.
Mr. Premier, we hope that you will find your programme here varied and stimulating.
You will see something of our history when you dine with George Youngerthe Secretary of State for Scotland in Edinburgh Castle, which was a royal court when the Sung imperial court was at Kaifeng. [The city where Premier Zhao was [end p12] educated.]
You will hear of our recent achievements in technology, when, tomorrow morning, you meet leading industrialists and financiers, including representatives of the service sector whose rapid expansion will be so vital to both our economies.
And you will see what the 21st century has in store for us when you visit Cambridge Science Park on Friday.
Mr. Premier, you have a saying in Chinese that new clothes and old friends are best.
The new clothes are our common commitment to reform and progress. [end p13]
We personally, and our two countries, can now be considered old friends.
I raise my glass to the continued blossoming of the friendship between Britain and China.