2009青海藏毯国际展览会开幕式致辞

各位来宾，女士们、先生们：
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

大家好！
Good morning!

很高兴参加2009’青海藏毯国际展览会开幕式，在此，我代表中国商务部，对展览会的召开表示热烈的祝贺，对参展参会的国内外客商表示诚挚的欢迎！
It gives me great pleasure to attend the opening ceremony of the Qinghai International Carpet Exhibition 2009. On behalf of the Ministry of Commerce, I would like to extend my congratulations on the opening of the exhibition, and my warm welcome to the guests from home and abroad!

今年是中华人民共和国成立60周年。建国以来特别是改革开放30年来，中国的经济建设和对外开放取得了举世瞩目的成就，经济总量跃居全球第四，外贸进出口居全球第三，吸收外资连续16年居发展中国家之首，为世界经济的稳定增长做出了重要贡献。去年以来，面对国际金融危机的蔓延和深化，中国政府反应迅速、判断准确、科学决策，将宏观调控重点转向“保增长、扩内需、调结构”，在扩大内需的同时，努力保持对外贸易的稳定增长。1-5月份，扣除价格因素，社会消费品零售总额同比增长16.4%，比去年同期加快4.2个百分点。但受金融危机影响，对外贸易仍处于低位运行，1-5月贸易额下降24.7%，其中出口下降21.8%。为此，各地正在积极采取措施，努力把金融危机的影响降到最低程度。今天在这里举办的藏毯国际展览会，就是青藏两省区贯彻“保增长”目标的重要举措，同时也为当前形势下国际地毯界加强合作交流、共同应对危机提供了良好契机。
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Since its founding, especially over the past three decades of reform and opening-up, China has scored remarkable achievements in both economic development and opening-up. Today, China stands as the fourth largest economy and third largest trading nation of the world, and has been the biggest recipient of foreign direct investment amongst developing nations for 16 years in a row. China has been a main contributor to world economic growth and stability. Since last year, in the face of the spreading and worsening international financial crisis, the Chinese government has reacted promptly with wise judgment and scientific decisions by shifting the focus of macro control onto “maintaining growth, expanding domestic demand and readjusting the economic structure”. While expanding home-grown demand, the country has also been trying to stabilize foreign trade. From January to May this year, inflation adjusted, the total social retail sales increased by 16.4% over the same period last year. The growth rate was 4.2 percentage points higher than the same period last year. However, due to the financial crisis, foreign trade figures are still in the low range. The volume of foreign trade fell by 24.7% in the first five months. In breakdown, export was down by 21.8%. To minimize the impact of the financial crisis, proactive measures have been taken across China. The exhibition we are hosting today is precisely an important step taken by Tibet and Qinghai toward maintaining economic growth. It is also an excellent opportunity for the international carpet industry to strengthen cooperation and exchange and to formulate a collective response to the ongoing crisis.

藏毯作为集藏民族文化与艺术于一体的工艺珍品，越来越受到国内外消费者的青睐。截至目前，青海藏毯国际展览会已成功举办五届，累计成交额达1.6亿美元，已成为西部地区对外开放的重要平台，有力地促进了周边省区的经济发展，带动了产业结构调整和农牧民增收。为进一步落实好国家西部大开发战略，促进区域协调发展，商务部将在原有工作基础上，继续一如既往地支持这一展会的举办，不断提高其国际化、专业化水平。
As treasured works of art with ethnic cultural value, Tibetan carpets are becoming more and more popular among consumers from home and abroad. This exhibition has been successfully held for five times, with a total trading value of 160 million USD. It is already an important platform for opening up the western region. It has contributed to economic development in the neighboring provinces and regions, to industrial restructuring and to higher incomes for local farmers and cattle raisers. To further implement China’s Western Regional Development Strategy and promote coordinated regional development, the Ministry of Commerce will continue to build on the role of this exhibition and make it more international and more specialized. 

我们相信，在各主办单位的共同努力下，在包括参会各位在内的各界朋友大力支持下，青海藏毯国际展览会必将越办越好，成为西部地区乃至全国越来越具影响力的国际性专业展会！
We believe, through the joint efforts of all the partners and your great support, the Qinghai International Carpet Exhibition will surely go from strength to strength and become a flagship, specialized trade show in the western region and the whole China.

最后，祝2009’青海藏毯国际展览会圆满成功！
To conclude, I wish the Qinghai International Carpet Exhibition 2009 a complete success.

谢谢大家！
Thank you.