Your Royal Highness The Duke of York,

Vice-Chancellor Cryan,

Teachers and Students,

Dear Friends:

It is with great honour that I receive the Honorary Doctorate from the University of Huddersfield.

The University of Huddersfield is one of UK’s best universities in quality of teaching. Becoming your alumnus is not only a special recognition and expectation for myself. It is also a recognition and expectation for the Chinese Embassy in the UK and for China-UK education cooperation. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to HRH The Duke of York and to Vice-Chancellor Cryan!

To many Chinese people, the University of Huddersfield may not be a familiar name. But I will tell my fellow Chinese that:

• This is the first foreign university that has donated to a Hope Primary School in China.
• It has established partnership with more than 100 Chinese universities.
• And it has engaged in various forms of cooperation with dozens of Chinese educational, cultural and media institutions.

It is fair to say that the University of Huddersfield has a close bond with China. I hope and believe that the University of Huddersfield will continue to play an important role in China-UK education exchanges and cooperation in the future.

Talking about the future, I would like to use the letter H for Huddersfield to share with you my three hopes for China-UK education cooperation.

The first H is hard work.

High-quality education should aim to foster talents that are both virtuous and competent. And this requires hard work.

There are many mechanisms that can be leveraged in achieving this goal. These include Generation UK, Mandarin Excellence Programme and the China-UK Mathematic Teacher Exchange Programme. In a latest addition to these platforms, we signed a document earlier today to launch the Confucius Institute of Science and Technology Innovation at the University of Huddersfield. These mechanisms will help us foster competent and hard-working talents.

The second H is horizon.

Universities may have walls, but they are not barricaded against ideas, thoughts, talents or knowledge. I think this is an age that calls for broader horizon and broader minds. This is a time to bridge the gap between cultures and break the fence between ideologies. This is an era for exchanges not discrimination, an era for inclusion not exclusion, an era for dialogue not confrontation, and an era for coexistence not conflict.

As was just announced, the Chinese Government would offer scholarships to 20 students from the University of Huddersfield for short-term study in China. It is my hope that the recipients could take advantage of this experience to broaden their horizon and become a bridge of better understanding and mutual trust between our two countries.

The third H is headway.

The world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. To make headway amid such changes, all countries of the world should stand up against protectionism and unilateralism. As long as we join hands, shoulder our due responsibilities and have each other’s back in difficulties, we will be able to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

The motto of the University of Huddersfield is “Inspiring Global Professionals”. I hope what I have said about three “H’s” would inspire you to make new and greater contribution to China-UK cooperation in education and people-to-people exchanges!

Thank you!