Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of Croatia Holds a Great Celebration of the 68th Anniversary of Founding of the People's Republic of China and the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Croatia
On 29th September 2017, the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of Croatia, together with City of Pula, the capital of the Istra County, jointly organized a great event ''Brighter Future Together'' in Croatia's famous cultural heritage Arena, to celebrate the 68th anniversary of founding of the People's Republic of China and the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Croatia. Speaker of Croatian National Parliament H.E. Mr Gordan Jandroković, Deputy Speaker Mr Furio Radin, special representative of Croatian Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism H.E. Mr. Gari Cappelli, special representative of Croatian President and President’s adviser on Social and Youth Affairs Ms. Renata Margaretić Urlić, Minister of Justice H.E. Mr. Dražen Boškarović, Minister of Culture H.E. Ms. Nina Obuljen Koržinek, Prefect of Istra County Mr. Valter Flego, Mayor of Pula Mr. Boris Miletić and other local leaders, the representatives of the all circles of Croatian society, diplomatic envoys to Croatia, the representatives of Chinese enterprises in Croatia and overseas Chinese and more than 5000 people participated in this celebration.
The event was opened with the ''lighting the Arena in red''. Pula Arena is a famous Croatian historical and cultural heritage and the best preserved one among the six Roman arenas in the world. At 7 o'clock in the evening, red lanterns were all lit up inside and outside the more than 2000 years old Arena and the whole Arena was wrapped in ''Chinese red'' which symbolizes happiness and harmonious. On the outer side of the Arena's wall, the spotlight was projecting ''Happy National Day'', ''China-Croatia Friendship'', ''Brighter Future Together'' in Chinese and Croatian to bring out the theme of this celebration event.
At 8 o'clock, the firework started above the sea near the Arena. The dazzling fireworks of all shapes and patterns frequently streaked across the sky above the Adriatic sea, forming the magnificent picture together with Arena colored in ''Chinese red''. The firework show lasted 19 minutes. This was the longest firework show in Istra and it attracted tens of thousands people watching this show by the seaside. Jubilant atmosphere spread all over Pula City and Istra peninsula.
After the firework show, the art troupe from Chengdu presented the traditional Sichuan opera ''Changing Faces'', Chinese martial arts ''National Style'', breath taking acrobatics ''Flourishing Hibiscus'', highly amusing puppet show ''Happy Panda'' and others programs in the Arena. Croatian art troupe Ivan Goran Kovačić performed cheerful and light-hearted Croatian folk song and dance ''Prigoričanin''. Brilliant performances and dazzling LED screen brought a cultural feast for more than 5000 audience. The applause in Arena was unending.
After the performance, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Croatia held a reception to celebrate the 68th anniversary of founding of the People's Republic of China and the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Croatia at Park Plaza Histria Hotel. Chinese Ambassador H.E. Mr Hu Zhaoming, Speaker of Parliament Mr. Gordan Jandroković and special envoy of Croatian President Ms Renata Margaretić Urlić separately gave a speech.
In his speech, Ambassador Hu retrospected the great achievements China had made in economic and social development over the past 68 years since its founding and said that on October 18, the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China would be held in Beijing. This conference will not only be of great significance to China's future development, but will also have a significant impact on the whole world. Ambassador Hu welcomed all the countries in the world, including Croatia, to pay close attention to the 19th Congress and look forward to the China Wisdom and China Proposal brought by the 19th Congress for the development and peace of the world. This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Croatia and relations between the two countries are standing on a new starting point and facing a new historic opportunity. Recently, good news about the China-Croatia cooperation in fields of tourism, high-tech investment, infrastructure construction and other areas keep pouring in. Ambassador Hu expressed his belief that the relationship between China and Croatia would be even more brighter in the future for sure.
Speaker of Croatian Parliament H.E. Mr Gordan Jandroković and special envoy of Croatian President Ms. Margaretić Urlić sincerely congratulated the 68th birthday to the People’s Republic of China, expressed great admiration for the Arena lit in red, fireworks and performance of the art troupe and pointed out that the celebration event ''Brighter Future Together'' symbolized the brighter future of China and Croatia relations. Speaker H.E. Mr Gordan Jandroković said that the “Belt and Road”Initiative proposed by Chinese President H.E. Mr. Xi Jinping was visionary, which will not only push forward the sustainable development of the world economy through interconnection, but also uphold the peace and security of the countries along the “Belt and Road”and promote the friendship between their peoples. Croatian side is willing to actively participate in the “Belt and Road”construction and work together with China to create a brighter future.
During the reception, Chinese Embassy also held the “Belt and Road”photo exhibition. The guests highly praised China's development achievements and the new opportunity brought by “Belt and Road” Initiative and wished the 19th Congress a great success.
More than 20 mainstream media including CCTV, Xinhua News Agency, Fenghuang TV, European Times and Croatian National Television, RTL, TV Istra, Jutarnji list, Večernji list and Tele.com, Net.hr and other internet media fully covered the celebration. HRT and TV Istra made a live broadcasts of the whole event, while CCTV also made a live broadcast on mobile phone platform.