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Contact:
George
Jude
Friday, September 24, 2004 -
At the invitation of the Government of the People’s Republic of China, Her
Excellency Dame Pearlette Louisy, Governor General of Saint Lucia visited
Beijing, Xi’an, Shenzhen and Shanghai of China between September 5 and 14. She
was warmly welcomed by the Chinese people wherever she went. The visit concluded
successfully.
Attaching great importance to the visit by Her Excellency, the Chinese
Government accorded her courteous reception for the Head of State. Elaborate
arrangements were made by the governments at all levels. His Excellency, Zeng
Qinghong, Vice President of the People’s Republic of China met with and gave the
Governor General and her entourage a grand dinner in the Great Hall of the
People.
An Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation was signed between the
People’s Republic of China and Saint Lucia. The Minister of Culture and the
Minister of Education of China paid successive courtesy visits to Her
Excellency, seeking possibility for further cooperation. The Governor of the
Shaanxi Province, the Executive Vice Mayor of the Shenzhen City, and the Mayor
of the Shanghi Municipality met with and held grand welcome banquet in honour of
the Governor General, respectively.
The delegation visited, some of China’s world heritage sites, such as the
Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Great Wall, the Summer Palace and the
Terra-Cotta Warriors. The Governor General is the four-hundredth Head of State
who has climbed the Great Wall.
The competent department of the Beijing Municipality held a grand ceremony and
awarded her a Certificate. A replica of the brick of the Great Wall was
presented to Her Excellency as a souvenir by His Excellency Gu Huaming, the
Chinese Ambassador to Saint Lucia. The delegation watched the Peking Opera and
historical and traditional dances, visited the High-Tech Development Zone, the
Pudong New District, museums, botanical garden, the Splendid China, etc. They
also visited the Shanghai Huadong Normal University and met with a St. Lucian
student studying there. The Governor General planted a tree of friendship
together with the other delegation members when they were in the Village of
Chinese Folk Arts in Shenzhen.
All countries are equal irrespective
of size. This is a principle embodied in the reception of the Governor General
by the Chinese Government, Both the wel1-conceived and tight traffic control at
central and local levels showed the friendly, serious and sincere attitude of
the Chinese side.
The visit by Her Excellency Dame
Pearlette Louisy is a significant event that reflects the sound relations
between the two countries and will be recorded in the annals of the Sino-St.
Lucian relations. The successful visit by the Governor General promoted the
mutual understanding and enhanced the friendship between the two peoples. “We
are convinced that the good relations of cooperation will be strengthened and
developed continuously”, the Chinese Ambassador to St. Lucia said.
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