"There is a saying in China: nothing is more terrible than listening to a foreigner speaking Chinese. But in South China there is another saying: nothing is more terrible than listening to a foreigner speaking Cantonese!" Yes, this is Kevin Rudd's opening remarks for the speech in Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.
On the morning of May 22, Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, Australian Consul General Du Keran and other officials visited GDUFS. Sui Guangjun, the Party secretory of GDUFS, Chen Jianping, vice Party secretory of GDUFS, Fang Fanquan and Liu Jianda, vice presidents of GDUFS met the guest in the VIP Hall of Administration Building in North Campus.
Sui Guangjun extended his warm welcome on behalf of GDUFS and introduced the university to Kevin Rudd and the guests. There are about 23,000 students including undergraduates, postgraduates and doctoral candidates. It has the strongest subjects in China--foreign linguistics and applied linguistics. Other disciplines, such as foreign trade, finance, foreign news communication, also rank among the top in the country. In addition, according to the latest MyCOS survey results, the student employment rate and employability rank second in the country (Tsinghua University is the first). At present, GDUFS has cooperation projects with Queensland University of Australia and Queensland University of Technology .
Kevin Rudd asked about the language advantage, employment rates and graduation whereabouts of the students. He said that Chinese language teaching in Australia covered a wide range now, from middle school to university. He hoped that GDUFS would carry out more cooperations and exchanges with universities in Australia.
Kevin Rudd, gentle and cultivated as always, appeared in the Lecture Hall of No. 6 Teaching Building at half past ten and gave a speech on "Australia's Trade and Economy with China" in a fluent Chinese for the teachers and students in GDUFS. The lecture was presided over by Sui Guangjun. Wu Xi, the deputy director of Department of American andOceaniaAffairs of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Li Jian, deputy director of GuangDong Foreign Affairs Office, and other leaders and guests also attended the meeting.
Kevin Rudd began with the Chinese saying to introduce his family's China complex and got familiar with the audience using authentic Chinese humor. When he mentioned his son-in-law was from Chaozhou of Guangdong, the audience burst into thunderous applause.
Column of figures:It's time forChina's modernization
During the lecture, Mr. Rudd stressed,"It's time for China's modernization." As an "old friend" who has visited China more than one hundred times, he took three major international events as example, Beijing Olympic Games, Shanghai World Expo and Guangzhou Asian Games. When mentioning the Guangzhou Opera House, Mr. Rudd talked on the great changes of China during the 30 years of reform and opening up. In the early 1984, it's hard to imagine that foreign companies could involve in the design of China's buildings. "This is a sign of great changes of China during the 30 years of reform and opening up." He pointed out that China used to be conservative in the past but is opening up in the 21st century.
Mr. Rudd mentioned that most observers did not believe that large-scale economic reform could happen in China 30 years ago. But the fact is that in the 30 years, China has made considerable progress, and it will be more successful in the next 30 years. He cited a series of numbers of China such as the GDP growth, trade, import and export volume and energy consumption from the 1980s to today, indicating the remarkable achievements of China's reform and opening up in the past 30 years. In addition, he took Chongqing as an example to emphasize the contributions of the rising cities and regions (Chongqing, Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning and other places) to China's economic growth.
Prospects:"Australia -China2.0"
With all the progress, China is inevitably faced with some tough challenges, such as imbalance in per capita GDP, social inequalities and so on. As China has overtaken the U.S. to become the world's largest energy consumer, environmental problems demand immediate attention.
On the economic transformation model of China, Mr. Rudd made seven summaries: China will become the world's largest economy soon; The growth pattern of the past three decades is being changed into the one based on domestic consumption; Rapid process of urbanization and the corresponding domestic demand will drive the development of manufacturing; The export and import of service industry are growing rapidly; Environmental constraints creates a new market for clean energy products; Investment for research and development will increase China's value chain rapidly; The developments of second-tier cities and other provinces are the new impetus to China's economic development.
As China has achieved economic growth, Australia has been a reliable energy supplier for China and makes frequent exchanges and cooperations in education, finance, banking, tourism and construction industry. As the second largest economy of the world today, what's the significance of China's economic development to the future economic development of the two countries? In this regard, Mr. Rudd proposed the "Australia-China 2.0" theory. He explained it's a new word to define the bilateral economic exchanges. "Australia-China 2.0" recognizes the impact of China's economic growth mode change and predictes and prepares for it. It regards Australia as a reliable and excellent economic partner to China. The cooperation is based on the economic advantages of the two sides. The governments can play their roles and make feasible policies to reach the Australia-China free trade agreement. But enterprises are the most important.
Mr. Rudd is optimistic on China's economic development, and believes that "Australia-China 2.0" will promote the bilateral economic development.
Onpressure: "patience" + "seekingforopportunities"
After the speech, Kevin Rudd answered questions of the audience. The content include Australia's competitive advantage in the financial services industry, China's way of becoming an economic power, the influences of resources and environment to China's future development, Sino-Australian free trade and other issues. A student from School of England for International Business talked from the perspective of the youth born in the 1980s in China, mentioned the enormous pressure in the cost of living, employment and buying a house, and asked the Foreign Minister's views and the life of the young people in Australia. Kevin Rudd answered in Chinese, "Patience". He said some causes took time. Dreams can be realized only by hard work and good preperation. In addition, Mr. Rudd agreed with the policies on pension, salary and housing. He thought they were effective to solve the problems of high living costs and inflation. The Australian youth also face similar problems. But with the development of globalization, the young people would have more opportunities to cooperate with people around the world. Therefore, they should look for opportunities and seize them. The prerequisite, however, is to learn foreign languages and improve their communication competence.
At the end of the lecture, Mr. Rudd encouraged students to study hard and get along with foreign friends. He was optimistic about the future of China and the development of young students.
The lecture is serious and humorous with both Chinese and English styles, which indicates Kevin Rudd's good command of Chinese culture. The audience expressed their appreciation through their applause and laughter. Finally, Sui Guangjun presented gift to Mr. Rudd on behalf of the university -- a hanging scroll of calligraphy written by the teacher of GDUFS saying "The movement of heaven is full of power. Thus the superior man makes himself strong and untiring. The earth's condition is receptive devotion. Thus the superior man who has breadth of character carries the outer world."
Attachment: Rudd humorous quotations
"Today is Sunday, why are you here?" -- Opening remarks
"There is a saying in China: nothing is more terrible than listening to a foreigner speaking Chinese. But in South China there is another saying: nothing is more terrible than listening to a foreigner speaking Cantonese!" -- Opening remarks
"Learn English? German? Spanish? Arabic (hands up)? Eh, you have a great courage. It's very hard to learn. Congratulations!" -- Surveying the number of students learning a foreign language
"My daughter's husband is good at Teochew, and excellent in Cantonese, but terrible in Mandarin. Please do not tell him I said so." -- When introducing his famiy's China complex
"My Chinese is worse than the students' English in GDUFS."
-- Talking on the student's language skills and international perspective in GDUFS
"You can teach the 'Australian'." -- Response to Sui Guangjun' introduction of GDUFS
"'Australia-China 2.0' is a new word in the definition of economic exchanges between the two sides ." -- Talking about "Australia-China 2.0"
"You should study hard, but also have to seize opportunities to get along with foreign friends."
-- Message for the contemporary college students
