On January 29, 2024, H.E. Ambassador Wang Lixin attended the Handover Ceremony of Table Tennis Equipment to the Ministry of Sports, Fitness and Recreation of the Maldives. Ambassador Wang Lixin delivered remarks at the ceremony as follows:

Respected Minister of State, Mr. Mohammed Riyaz,

Respected Mr. Ali Rasheed, TT Association President,

Ladies and Gentlemen，

Dear friends,

Very good afternoon!

It gives me great pleasure to attend the handover ceremony of the Table Tennis Equipment to the Ministry of Sports, Fitness and Recreation of the Maldives, which is a new testament to our traditional friendship and close cooperation.

China and the Maldives are friendly neighbors, and the traditional friendship between the two peoples dates back to ancient times. Over the past 52 years since the establishment of the diplomatic relations, our two countries have always respected each other, treated each other as equals, helped each other with sincerity, and firmly supported each other on the issues related to our respective core interests and major concerns. China-Maldives relationship has become a model of friendly exchanges, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation between countries of different sizes in the world.

Last November, H.E. Shen Yiqin, Special Envoy of President Xi Jinping and State Councilor of China attended the inauguration ceremony of President Muizzu and paid a friendly visit to Maldives. She also met with the representatives of Maldivian sportsmen. Early this month, at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, President Dr. Muizzu paid a very successful and fruitful state visit to China. Two heads of states agreed to elevate our bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, and reached important consensus on further promoting China-Maldives relations and signed 20 cooperation documents. This visit has opened a new chapter for China-Maldives friendly cooperation and will take our bilateral relations to a new high.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Dear friends,

Sports cooperation has played an important role in our bilateral relations for many years, which has greatly improved the well-being of Maldivian people and strengthened the friendship between our two peoples. As we all know, table tennis is not only a popular sport in both China and Maldives, but also a bridge connecting Chinese and Maldivian people for decades. In 1973, Maldives sent several young athletes to participate in table tennis tournament held in China, which opened the first chapter of friendly exchanges between our two peoples in Ping Pong area. Since then, the Ping Pong exchanges and cooperation between China and the Maldives have became closer and closer. The Maldivian Ping Pong players are always welcomed to China for training and games. Last Year, three Ping Pong coaches from Yunnan Province came to Maldives and gave a two-week training for  Maldivian Ping Pong players. A group of Maldivian children also went to Yunnan for summer camp training program. I believe Maldivian players benefited a lot from those  programs. China will continue to send Ping Pong delegations and coaches to the Maldives to participate in sport activities and train Maldivian players.

China is always ready to work with the Maldivian side to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields including sports to promote the friendship and bilateral relations between our two countries. Today the Chinese Embassy donated a batch of table tennis equipment, consisting of 10 tables, 600 rackets, 3000 balls, 10 scorers and 8 Time-Out signs to the Maldivian side. I believe this new batch of table tennis equipment will better improve the training condition of the Maldivian Ping Pong players both in Male and other islands, and help them make better performance in international matches.

I look forward to more sports exchanges and cooperation between our two countries which I believe will bring our two peoples much closer and help further enhance our traditional friendship.

Thank you!