Hon. Dr. Baldwin Spencer, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda

Hon. Dr. Jacqui Quinn-Leandro, Minister of Education,

H.E. Mr. David Shoul, Non-Resident Ambassador to the People's Republic of China,

Ms. Paula Frederic-Hunte, Permanent Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office

Ms. Sandra Joseph, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

Mr. Maurice Merchant, Chairman of the Prime Minister's Scholarship Committee,

Recipients of the scholarships and your parents,

Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Good morning.

    It was always a pleasure to greet the delighted faces of young students and indeed a privilege for me to speak here and provide me such opportunity to have personal interactions with all of you here today.

    I would like to start my remarks with congratulations, to all the students and your parents, it is the hard work you devoted and the support your parents provided that paved the way to where you stand today. And I would also like to thank Hon. Prime Minister Spencer and the Scholarship Committee for making this happen.

    As you may know, China has been developing rapidly during the past half century. The Gross Domestic Product of China in 2012 is 8227 billion USD, ranked No. 2 in the world. China has a population of 1.35 billion, with 34 provincial administrative divisions, people of 56 ethnic nationalities living on a land of 9.6 million square kilometers. But aside from the data, I believe China is indeed the land of opportunities, a land for dreamers. I welcome you to join all the people living on that land and take part in the historical trend in realizing the goals, fighting for the better future and achieving the dreams.

    Living, especially studying in a foreign country could be challenging. When you meet obstacles, do not hold back, because you have the full support from your family, from your university, from us and from your new friends in China; when you facing difficult choices, do not be confused, just follow your heart and make the choice that it takes you to. I also believe that once you witnessed and experienced how the Chinese people transformed the country from barely feed themselves to the second largest economy in the world in a mere 30 years, all the challenges will be yet another impetus for you fight and contribute to your motherland.

    I praise your courage to take such challenge. I still recall my memories of the first day I landed in a foreign community when I was perusing my Master degree there. It seems to me that many things are not familiar. Living in a foreign country, language is the first issue. People say Chinese is among the hardest language to learn, but I think mostly it's due to the difference of philosophy and way of thinking, once you live there and get to know more and understand more about the history and culture of that country, it will not be that difficult.

    Probably you all familiar with the line in the Spiderman movie: Great power comes great responsibility. You all have been outstanding among your peers, so I urge you to stay focused, stay hungry, stay curious, stay motivated and continue to strive towards your educational goals. Never stop exploring and questioning, make full use of the next five years. You are the future of this beautiful country. Besides getting knowledge from textbook and professors in the university (usually in the big cities), I encourage you to go beyond the limits of the campus, get in touch with China, the country with a splendid culture, to the country-side, to the snowy mountains, to the historical sites. I'm sure you will find it both interesting and informative.

    It is also my firm believes, that by the time you returned home, you would be able to absorb enough knowledge and put into appliance to build a stronger and more prosperous Antigua and Barbuda.

    There are many things still hanging in the uncertainty, but there is one thing I can assure you: the next 5 years will be different from any year prior in your life. 20th Century Irish poet William Butler Yeats once said: "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." So keep learning and influence the people around you with your positive thoughts and actions, light the fire for everyone.

    This is exactly the reason why the Chinese Government started to cooperate with Prime Minister's Scholarship Committee. I'm happy to inform you that since 2007, there have already been 85 students study in China, some of them already returned and some are pursuing their graduate studies there. The major competition in the 21st Century is the competition of Intellectuals, I've seen so many talented young people in this country, and education will give them the wings to fly up even higher.

    As the Chinese Ambassador to Antigua and Barbuda, I have a favor to ask you, although we enjoyed close relationship for the past 30 years, I still feel a lack of communications between our peoples, so while studying in China, I hope that each and every one of you could be the unofficial (or should I say unpaid?) Ambassador to China, introduce Antigua and Barbuda to your Chinese friends and bring back the real picture of China home. It now falls on your shoulders to carry on the friendship we have for the next 30 years and years to come.

    And finally, I would like to offer you some advice and I hope you can keep it in your mind.

    Whenever you face difficult time during your study in China, please ask yourself two questions: "Why are you here and where do you want to go from here?" I hope by the time you returned home, you will get the answers of your own. My speech will be on the website of the Chinese Embassy, please read the English version this year and read the Chinese version next year.

    Ladies and gentlemen, the door has opened, the rest is all yours.

    Wish you all a very successful journey in China.

    Thank you!