SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
AT WELCOME BANQUET
XIAMEN, 24 MAY 1986
YOUR EXCELLENCIES, GOVERNOR Hu PING, SECRETARY Hu QILI
MAYOR Zou ERFU
I AM DELIGHTED TODAY TO BE IN FUJIAN PROVINCE, AND TO BE
IN XIAMEN, HAVING JUST RETURNED FROM THE CITY OF ZHANGZHOU.
MANY FUJIANESE HAVE MADE THEIR HOMES IN OTHER PARTS OF THE
WORLD INCLUDING AUSTRALIA WHERE THEY HAVE MADE GREAT
CONTRIBUTIONS TO DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR NEWLY ADOPTED COUNTRIES.
FROM WHAT I HAVE WITNESSED THIS MORNING, THEIR KINSMEN WHO
HAVE REMAINED IN CHINA ARE ALSO MAKING GREAT CONTRIBUTIONS
TO THIS COUNTRY'S DEVELOPMENT. I CONGRATULATE THEM ON THEIR
ACHIEVEMENTS. FUJIAN'S TRADING RELATIONS WITH OUR REGION OF THE WORLD
HAVE A HISTORY MUCH LONGER THAN THE MODERN HISTORY OF
AUSTRALIA. FAMOUS FUJIANESE NAVIGATORS CHARTED THE WATERS
OF SOUTH-EAST ASIA. THEY WERE FOLLOWED BY FUJIANESE TRADERS
WHO PLIED THE TRADE ROUTES THROUGH SOUTH-EAST, SOUTH AND
SOUTH-WEST ASIA AS EARLY AS THE 15TH CENTURY.
I
2.
FIVE CENTURIES LATER, THE FUTURE OF FUJIAN'S ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT, LIKE CHINA'S AND AUSTRALIA'S, IS TO A LARGE
DEGREE DEPENDENT ON ITS ABILITY TO DEVELOP FURTHER ITS
ECONOMIC RELATIONS WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD AND WITH
THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION IN PARTICULAR. CHINA'S OPEN POLICY
REPRESENTS A FUNDAMENTAL AFFIRMATION OF THIS PRINCIPLE. NOT
ONLY IS THIS POLICY SIGNIFICANT IN TERMS OF CHINA'S OWN
DEVELOPMENT; IT IS ALSO SIGNIFICANT TO THAT OF THE REGION
OF WHICH CHINA IS AN INTEGRAL PART,
THE FUJIAN GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN ACTIVE IN ADOPTING SPECIFIC
MEASURES TO IMPLEMENT THE OPEN POLICY IN THIS PROVINCE.
IN THE LAST SIX YEARS, THREE ECONOMIC ZONES HAVE BEEN
ESTABLISHED AIMED AT CREATING FAVOURABLE CONDITIONS FOR
FOREIGN TRADE AND INVESTMENT: IN XIAMEN, FUZHOU AND THE
SOUTH FUJIAN TRIANGLE, WHICH INCLUDES ZHANGZHOU. THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THESE ECONOMIC ZONES HAS BEEN A COMPLEX
AND CHALLENGING TASK, BUT ONE WHICH I HOPE IN TIME WILL
BE RICHLY REWARDING IN ITS IMPACT ON THE ECONOMIC PROGRESS
OF FUJIAN AND CHINA,
AUSTRALIAN INVOLVEMENT IN FUJIAN IS INCREASING, As PART
OF FUJIAN'S CONTINUED DIVERSIFICATION OF ITS AGRICULTURAL
ACTIVITY IN THE DIRECTION OF EXPORT-ORIENTED CASH CROPS,
FUJIAN IMPORTS CONSIDERABLE QUANTITIES OF AUSTRALIAN WHEAT
AND IS FOR AUSTRALIA AN IMPORTANT CHINESE MARKET. AUSTRALIA
FOR ITS PART IMPORTS A RANGE OF FUJIANESE PRODUCTS, INCLUDING
TEA, GARMENTS, FOODSTUFFS AND HANDICRAFTS.
WE HAVE JUST WITNESSED THE OPENING OF THE INTERNATIONAL
WOOL COMPANY JOINT VENTURE BETWEEN MACQUARIE WORSTED AND
THE ZHANGZHOU JUTE MILL FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF WOOLLEN
TEXTILES, IN A SEPARATE PROJECT, BHP, AUSTRALIA'S LARGEST
COMPANY, AND IPAC ( EXPORT DEVELOPMENT AUSTRALIA) HAVE, IN
CO-OPERATION WITH THEIR CHINESE PARTNERS, BEEN CONSTRUCTING
A CEMENT PLANT IN SHUNCHANG, AND HERE IN XIAMEN, THE
AUSTRALIAN FIRM LEIGHTONS HAS COMPLETED AN INITIAL FEASIBILITY
STUDY, FUNDED BY THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT, FOR THE PHASE
TWO DEVELOPMENT OF THE DONG DU PORT, THIS WILL INVOLVE
THE CONSTRUCTION OF FIVE BERTHS OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS
AND WILL EXPAND THE PRESENT PORT'S ANNUAL HANDLING CAPACITY
TO 8,5 MILLION TONNES THUS ENHANCING GREATLY XIAMEN'S
AND FUJIAN'S CAPACITY TO SERVICE THE REQUIREMENTS OF A RAPIDLY
EXPANDING ECONOMY, I LOOK FORWARD TO VISITING THE PORT THIS
AFTERNOON, AND TO THE PROSPECT OF AUSTRALIAN COMMERCIAL
PARTICIPATION IN THE CONSTRUCTION PHASE,
IT IS, I THINK, AN IMPORTANT POINT THAT THE NATURE OF
AUSTRALIAN INVOLVEMENT IN FUJIAN TO DATE IN THE BUILDING
MATERIALS, TEXTILES AND TRANSPORT SECTORS CONFORMS TO THE
FUJIAN GOVERNMENT'S GENERAL DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES FOR THE
PROVINCE, OUR ECONOMIC RELATIONSHIP MUST ALWAYS BE FOUNDED
ON THE PRINCIPLE OF MUTUAL BENEFIT,
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, FUJIAN, CHINA AND AUSTRALIA ARE
LINKED BY THE PACIFIC OCEAN WHICH IN BOTH CHINESE AND
ENGLISH MEANS AN OCEAN OF PEACE. LET US CONTINUE TO WORK
TOGETHER TO MAKE OURS A REGION OF PEACE IN THE HOPE THAT
THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY WILL BE FOR THE PACIFIC A CENTURY
OF PROSPERITY.
I WOULD LIKE TO PROPOSE A TOAST TO THE HEALTH OF OUR HOSTS
IN XIAMEN, TO THE HEALTH OF ALL DISTINGUISHED CHINESE AND
AUSTRALIAN GUESTS HERE TODAY AND TO THE HEALTH OF CHINAAUSTRALIA
AND FUJIAN-AUSTRALIA RELATIONS.