Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished guests, esteemed faculty, proud family members, and most importantly, the graduating class, the heroes of today’s event.

It is both an honor and a privilege to stand before you today as we celebrate this significant milestone in our lives.

Feels like a dream, standing here at the commencement ceremony, somebody pinch me, yes this is not a dream. We have made it. A long journey, with all its ups and downs, moments of joy and stomach knots of assignments, exams, defense, as well as peaceful walk along the serene lake, scenic pathways of Beida, and killing shivers of Beijing winters, long never ending lectures, and exciting field trips. We have been through all, and successfully so.

Is it the end of a tedious yet interesting journey? I would say no. This actually is the beginning, the beginning of treading upon the path of playing our role in the greater picture. Destiny chose us to be part of this historic global reshuffling. The emerging realities of South-South cooperation, Belt and Road initiative, joint prosperity, connectivity, a win-win global scenario. China is making history, and we have been trained by ISSCAD to be part of this process, to fix the jigsaw puzzle, for our respective countries.

It’s a milestone not only for each one of us but for the whole world. Why do I say that? ISSCAD is a window for global economic turnaround, it is a gateway of China outreaching the BRI partners. South-South cooperation, negating the donor-recipient relationship, introducing a new world of mutual respect and partnership, opening doors for collaborations, networks, forge alliances, working together across borders, and building an ecosystem.

Thank you ISSCAD for creating the platform of cosmopolitan learning. Our doctoral program is different from the usual ones, completely departing from the regular study programs. All the classmates are seasoned and accomplished professionals. Believe me, it’s very hard to grasp new ideas at this stage in life, but this is the actual challenge and real success. We all learned to learn and acquire new knowledge and skills.

I represent a developing country and so do my other classmates. We have been given an insight into the dawn of new era, where we should think independently, plan our own destiny, make our own growth models, identify our own choices, and be empowered to take the world as partners.

President XI said and I quote: “Belt and Road Initiative is a public road open to all, not a private path owned by one single party. All interested countries are welcome to take part in cooperation and share in its benefits.” (Boao forum 2021, April 20)

My dear friends, let’s leave this hall today with a resolve —— the resolve to apply what we learnt, the resolve to make the world worth living, the resolve to take our countries out of the income traps.  China has done it and we can also do that.

Thank you ISSCAD, thank you Peking, thank you China, for giving us this opportunity to become part of the bigger global family.  

Thank you.