August 1st this year marks the 94th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army(PLA). Over the past 94 years, the People's Army has evolved with the progress of the course of the Party and the country. It has grown up in battle, made innovation while building on the past, developed itself in construction, and its revolutionary nature and level of modernization and standardization has been continuously improved. It has performed meritorious service for the country's prosperity, national rejuvenation, and people's well-being. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, President Xi Jinping has placed national defense and army building in the historical process of realizing national modernization and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. With historical changes and achievements, the PLA has taken firm steps along the road to build a strong army with Chinese characteristics, and has made tremendous contribution to safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development interests and promoting world peace and stability.

The PLA resolutely implements Xi Jinping's thinking on strengthening the military, implements the military strategy of the new era, adheres to the Party's absolute leadership, follows the CMC(Central Military Commission)Chairman responsibility system, enhance the political loyalty of the armed forces, strengthen them through reform, science, technology and talent cultivation, and run them in accordance with law, accelerates the modernization of military theory, improves the military strategy system of the new era, forges a new high-quality professional military talent-bank, accelerates the development of mechanization, informationization and intelligent integration, creates a high-level strategic deterrence and joint combat system, accelerates the upgrading and updating of weapons and equipment, continuously improves the strategic ability to defend national sovereignty, security as well as development interests, and ensures the achievement of the goal of military establishment by 2027,on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the PLA, strives to basically realize national defense and military modernization by 2035, and builds the PLA into a world-class one by the middle of this century.

Peace and development are the themes of the times in the world today, but they still face a growing number of increasingly severe risks and challenges. No matter how the international situation changes, China has always pursued a defensive national defense policy, and has always been a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development as well as a defender of international order. China attaches importance to security cooperation with other countries, fully understands and respects the legitimate concerns of all countries, and China's national interests must also be fully respected and safeguarded. On issues relating to Taiwan, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and the South China Sea, China's determination to defend its core national interests is firm, and the PLA has the determination, confidence and ability to overcome all threats and challenges, and to provide strategic support for the realization of the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The PLA has always kept in mind the original aspiration and mission of fulfilling the responsibility of a great power, safeguarding world peace, and serving the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and marched bravely for world peace. China takes concrete actions to safeguard world peace and has actively participated in the UN peacekeeping operations. China is the second largest contributor to both peacekeeping assessment and UN membership fees, and the largest troop-contributing country among the permanent members of the UN Security Council. Over the past 30 years, China's armed forces have resolutely delivered on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and sent over 40,000 peacekeepers to 25 UN peacekeeping missions. They have faithfully performed their duties and made a positive contribution to world peace and common development. In recent years, the Chinese Navy has successively dispatched 36 escort formations to the Gulf of Aden and the waters of Somalia, making contribution to ensuring the safety of important sea lanes. The PLA also actively assists in international humanitarian relief. After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the PLA has provided a large amount of assistance supplies for pandemic countries or dispatched medical expert teams to the militaries of other countries while doing a good job of pandemic prevention and control at home. We are willing to work with the militaries of other countries to fight the pandemic, deepen pragmatic cooperation in non-traditional security fields, provide public goods for international security to the global community, and make tangible contribution to the early victory over the pandemic and the building of a global community of health for all.

China actively develops constructive relationships with foreign militaries. A new pattern of external military relations which is all-dimensional, wide-ranging and multi-tiered is taking shape. China has engaged in military exchanges with more than 150 countries and set up 130 offices of military attachés and military representatives at Chinese diplomatic missions abroad, while playing host to military attaché's offices from 116 countries in China. In addition, China has put in place 54 defense consultation and dialogue mechanisms with 41 countries and international organizations. Through training and education, joint exercises, personnel exchanges and other activities, mutual understanding has been enhanced, and peace and stability promoted. In recent years, the institutionalized exchanges between the armed forces of China and the Czech Republic have made steady progress. We look forward to working with friends from the Czech armed forces to inject new vitality into the friendly cooperative relations between the armed forces of our two sides. The PLA is willing to work with the armed forces of the Czech Republic and other countries in the world to establish a higher level of mutual trust in military security, build a more complete security cooperation platform, provide more and better public goods for security, and work together to build a security architecture featuring joint contribution and shared benefits in order to ensure adequate security protection for the development and prosperity of all countries.

Thank you.