2024-07-20 01:37:50
Exclusive interview for KMG with H.E. Mrs. Dai Qinli, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the PRC to Bulgaria
“China and Bulgaria have great potential and prospects for cooperation in many fields. We are ready to work with representatives of all spheres to turn the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations into a new starting point, to continue to enrich the content of the China-Bulgaria strategic partnership and to promote the development of bilateral relations to a new level”. highlights H.E. Dai Qingli, quoted by Radio China.
Q. Your Excellency, You are the first female ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Bulgaria, and since your arrival and presentation of your credentials to President Rumen Radev, about two months ago, you have been working non-stop. You visited many places, met many people and participated in various activities and initiatives. You are extremely active and work at “high speed”. What are your first impressions of Bulgaria? And what is your vision for the cooperation between China and Bulgaria?
A. In the year in which we will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Bulgaria, it is an extraordinary honor and great responsibility for me to be the 21st ambassador and the first female ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of Bulgaria. In the past two months since my arrival in Bulgaria, I communicated with friends from all walks of life and visited a number of cities, I was deeply impressed by the long history and wonderful culture of Bulgaria.
During my visits and conversations, I learned that Bulgaria is one of the hotbeds of Slavic culture, including the Cyrillic alphabet, and your country ranks third in Europe in terms of the number of cultural monuments. The exquisite objects of Thracian gold in the National History Museum are amazing, and the many sights in Sofia, Veliko Tarnovo and Plovdiv made me feel the richness of Bulgarian history and the diversity and tolerance of its culture. I was pleased to find many similarities between Chinese and Bulgarian culture, for example, the twelve Chinese zodiac signs are extremely similar to the calendar of the ancient Bulgarians, which I think is a symbol of the interaction between our lands since ancient times.
According to public opinion polls, Bulgaria is the country with the most positive attitude towards China in the European Union. This also shows my personal experience since I arrived. The ease, warmth and hospitality of the Bulgarians are very touching. Wherever I go, I’ve always been greeted very warmly, and passers-by I don’t even know greet me with “Hello” in Chinese. I recently attended the Rose Festival in Kazanlak, where we danced the horo, the atmosphere was amazing!
We will also not forget that Bulgaria was the second country in the world to establish diplomatic relations with New China. During these 75 years, our two countries have always adhered to the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. China respects the development path chosen by Bulgaria, which meets its national conditions, and appreciates the firm support of all previous Bulgarian governments for the “one China” principle, which is the basis for the strategic partnership between our countries.
In my contacts with people from all walks of life in Bulgaria, I feel that there is a strong desire to strengthen relations and deepen cooperation with China, both on an official level and on a private level, which gives me great confidence and motivation in my work. I and my colleagues will do our best to strengthen the friendly relations between China and Bulgaria, we will explore in depth the priority areas and realistic ways to promote the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative and more broadly the cooperation between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, so that our friendship materializes in more tangible results and brings more benefits to both the Chinese and the Bulgarians.
Q. What did you know about Bulgaria before you were appointed as the first diplomat of the PRC and what were your expectations for the country?
A. I have known for a long time that Bulgaria is the country of roses, the homeland of yogurt, the “vegetable and fruit garden” of Europe. Bulgarian rose products are very popular among the Chinese. In 2018, I was part of a delegation that visited Bulgaria, and although this visa was short, it was a glimpse into the deep historical heritage and beautiful nature. Since then I have been looking forward to visiting Bulgaria again. Now, six years later, I’m back as a new ambassador and it feels like destiny. I look forward to working together with my Bulgarian friends and representatives from all spheres to promote more frequent high-level exchanges between the two countries, for practical cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. I hope Bulgaria will make an important contribution to China-EU relations, be our good partner in mutually beneficial cooperation, a friend for cross-cultural understanding, and join our efforts to build a better future in which we all share the same destiny, exist together and we enjoy common prosperity.
Q. In which areas do you see opportunities for fruitful and promising cooperation between China and Bulgaria?
A. At the recently held Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, a strategic plan was drawn up to further comprehensively deepen reforms and promote Chinese-style modernization. A number of important reform initiatives were presented, including building a high-level socialist market economic system, improving the institutional mechanism to promote high-quality economic development, building a system and mechanism to support comprehensive innovation, improving the macroeconomic management system, improving of the system and mechanism for opening to the outside world at a high level, etc. Under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the entire Party will make concerted efforts to transform the strategic plan into a powerful force for promoting Chinese-style modernization. The rapid development of Chinese-style modernization will bring new opportunities for the development of all countries in the world, including Bulgaria.
Seizing new opportunities and further promoting practical cooperation between our two countries is one of the most important priorities of my mandate. China and Bulgaria have great potential and prospects for cooperation in many fields.
For example, in the field of agriculture – since its creation, the China-Bulgaria Agricultural Cooperation Demonstration Zone in Plovdiv has emerged as a landmark project, providing hundreds of jobs in the region, and in 2023, Bulgaria has become the largest partner of China in trade with agricultural products from the region of Central and Eastern Europe. We will strive to promote the export of more types of high-quality agricultural products from Bulgaria to China, and help the Bulgarian side make good use of various trade exhibitions and popular e-commerce platforms in China to continuously expand the scale of agricultural products trade between our countries .
The second area is new energies. This is the area with the largest investments of Chinese companies in Bulgaria. The green and low-carbon transformation is a common goal of China and Bulgaria, and Chinese enterprises make full use of their technological advantages and actively participate in projects for the production of electricity from photovoltaic and wind plants and biomass in Bulgaria, contributing to green development.
The third area is investment and infrastructure. Located at the crossroads of the Eurasian continent, Bulgaria has a significant geographical advantage, a good industrial base, a large number of thriving industrial parks and a huge demand for infrastructure construction. The first part of projects with Chinese investments after the COVID pandemic is gradually being implemented, and others are in the process of negotiation. We hope that the two countries will find the right starting point, explore realistic ways of cooperation, and work for more and more Chinese-funded projects to be implemented in Bulgaria, as well as more Chinese enterprises to build infrastructure projects here.
The fourth area is tourism. Bulgaria is rich in tourist resources – sea, mineral springs, eco-trails, skiing, cultural tourism, etc. We expect your country to vigorously promote its tourism resources and create tourism packages with neighboring countries to attract Chinese tourists. We look forward to the imminent launch of direct flights between the two countries, which I hope will give a strong boost to tourism cooperation.
The fifth area is science, technology and education. China and Bulgaria actively implement a government scholarship exchange program and have always encouraged and supported universities and research institutes on both sides to carry out high-level academic exchanges and project cooperation. Our focus is on language learning, scientific and technological innovation, vocational education and other areas where we have achieved a number of good results. The two countries should continue to invest more resources, cultivate more highly qualified and competitive talents to contribute to the long-term development of friendly relations between China and Bulgaria.
Q. This year is particularly important as it coincides with the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Bulgaria. What more important initiatives related to these jubilee anniversaries does the embassy organize?
A. Friendship between countries lies in the proximity of peoples. The peoples of China and Bulgaria are deeply interested in each other’s culture, and mutual understanding and cultural exchange have become an important support and source of vitality for interstate relations. To mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Bulgaria, the embassy has been planning and conducting since the beginning of the year a number of activities aimed at mutual acquaintance and sharing of beautiful traditions and holidays. For example, we organized a joint gala concert on the occasion of the Chinese New Year, a lantern drawing competition in which more than 300 Bulgarian students participated, the Chinese Cinema Week in the five largest cities of Bulgaria, an exhibition of awarded works from the drawing competition “The peony meets the rose” and the Dragon Boat Festival, which was held in Sofia and Ruse with the participation of almost 10,000 people.
In the future, we will work together with the Bulgarian side to open a Chinese literary corner in the National Library, to plant our national flower – the peony – in the South Park in Sofia and in the Plovdiv Park “Recreation and Culture”, to hold an exhibition of Chinese products of famous brands, for the organization of a photo exhibition on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, for the holding of a video meeting between Bulgarian youth and Chinese astronauts, and others.
I believe that these seemingly small but symbolic activities will further emphasize the closeness of bilateral relations, add new highlights and breathe new life into the traditional friendship between China and Bulgaria. We are ready to work with representatives of all spheres in Bulgaria to turn the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations into a new starting point, continue to enrich the content of the China-Bulgaria strategic partnership and promote the development of bilateral relations to a new level .