Speaker: Gaston Chee
22 September 2019 at Hangzhou International Expo Center
Your Excellencies Ambassadors,
尊敬的各位大使，
Distinguish guests, ladies and gentlemen, and friends,
尊敬的各位来宾，女士们，先生们，朋友们，
It is indeed a privilege and an honour for me to address this dinner reception. I promise you I will try my best to keep this speech short so that we can all enjoy the delicious food prepared by our wonderful host.
今天能够在晚宴上致辞，我感到非常荣幸。我保证我会尽力把演讲时间缩短，这样我们便能尽快享用主办方为我们精心准备的丰盛佳肴。
The theme of the conference, “Creation Leads the Future” fits the city of Hangzhou. In many ways, the city is living in the future. As the internet continues to transform the way we live and do business, the city comfortably sits at the apex of e-commerce, AI and machine learning and the internet of things. What better place to discuss this than Hangzhou, and who better to discuss this that the entrepreneurs and businesses who are redefining the future.
本次会议的主题是“创造引领未来”，用这个短语用来形容杭州恰如其分，因为杭州在很多方面上都引领着未来。互联网在不断改变我们生活和贸易的方式，而杭州正处于电商、人工智能和物联网的最前沿。相较杭州，没有哪座城市更适合讨论这个主题；相较正在重新定义未来的企业家和企业们，没有哪个人更适合讨论这个主题。
It is my pleasure to be among such great individuals whose wealth of experience and endless innovation is truly inspirational. Earlier this morning I had the opportunity to accompany our international friends and ambassadors from 5 different countries to visit the West Lake and the surrounding areas. There is a Chinese saying, 上有天堂，下有苏杭。Hangzhou is indeed a truly beautiful and magical place.
我非常荣幸能够与如此优秀的人们共聚一堂，你们丰富的经验和无穷的创新力带给了我很多启发。今天早上我陪同来自五个国家的国际朋友和大使们参观了西湖及其周围地区。中国有句古话：上有天堂，下有苏杭。杭州真的是一个美丽而神奇的城市。
And during the afternoon, we have witnessed many fascinating speeches and heard from some of the best in the industries. I was very impressed by many of the business ideas and sharing throughout the forum and what further caught my attention was the quality of many of the young entrepreneurs who were present at the forum. It’s like witnessing the Jack Ma of tomorrow. What an honour. What a privilege.
今天下午，我们聆听了许多精彩的演讲，获悉了行业中佼佼者们的真知灼见。整个论坛中交流分享的商业观点让我深受启发，出席本次论坛的青年企业家们的素养也让我折服。你们就是未来的马云。这对我来说是极大的荣耀！
China’s astonishing growth in the last few decades to become the world’s second-biggest economy had not only to raise China’s image globally and created shared prosperity throughout the region, but it has also contributed to uplifting the status of Asian countries as a force to be reckoned with.
过去几十年，中国以惊人的速度一跃成长为世界第二大经济体。这不仅提升了中国的国际形象，创造了整个地区的共同繁荣，也提升了亚洲的国际地位，使亚洲国家成为不可忽视的力量。
Millions of Chinese entrepreneurs have changed their lives through hard work and innovation. When added up, these small changes have become a powerful force driving China’s development and progress. What we see here in Hangzhou today showcases what has been achieved through the vision of entrepreneurs and the roles played by the Chinese government as well as the positive contribution of organisations such as Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce and its Young Entrepreneur Committee in linking up the local businesses with the world and beyond.
数百万中国企业家通过努力工作和创新改变了自己的生活。这些细小的变化累积起来便汇集成一股驱动中国发展和进步的强大力量。今天的杭州所取得的成就离不开企业家的远见卓识，中国政府发挥的作用和把本地企业与世界联通起来的各类组织，如浙商总会及其青年企业家委员会。
I am very proud to be of Malaysian with Chinese roots and I have always been fascinated with the “can-do spirit” and hard-working attitude of my late grandfather (朱光强), my father (朱长财), and the Chinese community (华裔) around me. Growing up in a family that was heavy in the auto industry, it has always fascinated me how my father is so committed to the business. My father started his business in trading auto-motive parts before setting up his factories not too far away from here, in Ningbo, Zhejiang. As a casual listener to conversations with business associates or long-distance calls, I can hear my father speak and discuss cars and their parts, on making them faster and better, cheaper and accessible. That does a lot to a curious young mind.
我非常自豪我是一名有着中国血统的马来西亚华人。一直以来，我已故的爷爷朱光强、爸爸朱长财以及身边的华裔群体的“我能做”精神和努力工作的态度都深深影响着我。我的家庭一直从事与汽车相关的生意，所以在我成长的过程中我能够看到我父亲对这个行业有多么投入。我父亲在宁波建起自己的工厂之前，一直在做汽车配件生意。我总能听到父亲在和商业伙伴的谈话中或是在电话中讨论如何才能提高汽车和汽车部件的生产速度和质量，降低价格和扩大市场。这些都给幼小、求知欲强的我留下了很深的印象。
However, it is not until I was 12 years old, nearly 20 years ago, that I travelled to China to witness first hand for myself what the Chinese people were going through and despite the hardship and struggles to face the Chinese people that time, they remain steadfast, dedicated and committed to overcoming their struggle. They never complain, they don’t blame others and continue to be hard working in all the tasks that they have undertaken, and along the way, over 800 million people out of poverty; that is equivalent of 25 times the size of Malaysia population and nearly 3 times the size of the US.
但直到我12岁的时候，也就是近20年前，我才来第一次到中国。我亲眼见证了中国人民是如何在当时艰难困苦的条件下坚定而专注地克服困难、努力向前的。他们从不抱怨、不指责他人，兢兢业业的完成所有的任务。在这个过程中，8亿人民成功脱贫，这个数字相当于马来西亚人口的25倍、美国人口的近3倍。
Today, China is one of the most dynamic economies in the world. This is a testament to China’s good governance and a model that many developing countries can learn from.
今天，中国是世界上最活跃的经济体之一，这证明中国善于治国，也证明了中国模式值得其他的发展中国家学习。
As a proud Malaysian, with Chinese roots, I am very thankful to China and its people for friendship, openness and hospitality. I’ve been fortunate to have travelled to many countries. However, China continues to impress me the most especially in its commitment towards opening up and reform. It’s strong and stable leadership that is dedicated to tackling some of the world’s greatest challenges – from Climate Change to poverty eradication and to making it easier for people to do business and trade across borders.
作为一名自豪的马来西亚华人，我非常感激中国人民的友好、开放和殷勤好客。我有幸游览过很多国家，而中国仍是给我留下最深印象的国家，特别是中国的改革开放政策。中国强大而稳定的领导层正致力于解决一些全球性挑战：从气候变化、脱贫到为跨境商贸创造更便利的条件。
In addition to your friendship, we are also grateful to the Chinese government and the Chinese business community and entrepreneurs for investing in Malaysia. The likes of Alibaba, Huawei, Geely and Mr Wang’s Company (Huali Group – the largest private investor from Zhejiang in Malaysia) have all invested significantly in Malaysia. In addition to capital investment, our friendship has also deepened on many levels and more significantly. When our foreign minister Dato Saifuddin visited China last week, he echoed the same sentiment, that Chinese people are hard-working and your hard work has contributed to the economic miracle in China. Hard work and knowledge – these are the two values my Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says are needed for a nation to become successful.
我们也想要感谢中国政府和中国商业界、企业家对马来西亚投资。阿里巴巴、华为、吉利和汪先生的公司华立集团等公司都在马来西亚进行大量投资，其中华立集团在马来西亚是来自浙江的最大私人投资方。除了投资外，我们在各个水平上的的友谊也在不断加深。我们的外交部长赛夫丁·阿卜杜拉上周访华时，也有着同样的感触：中国人民勤劳肯干，你们的辛勤工作成就了中国的经济奇迹。我们的总理马哈蒂尔·穆罕默德也指出努力工作和知识是一个国家的成功背后的两大价值观。
The previous generation has shaped China to be what we witness today and the younger generation is challenged to understand and appreciate how far China has come. We attribute this to the spirit (精神) of the Chinese people, – which is hardworking attitude, resilient and willingness to learn.
上一代人将中国塑造成今天的模样，年轻的一代则需要了解和欣赏中国是如何取得如此大的成就的。我们把中国的成就归功于中国人民的精神，即努力工作、坚韧和愿意学习。
This is the spirit of China that my late grandfather and father has shown me, it is also the same spirit that I see among the Chinese communities around the world and has become a major driving force that underpins China’s economic reform and opening up.
这些就是我在我的爷爷、爸爸身上感受到的精神，也是世界各地华裔群体所展现的精神。这些精神是中国经济改革开放的内驱力。
I had the opportunity to travel to Angola as part of a delegate of investors a few years after the civil war has ended, and it’s the people welcomed us with open arms. I asked the government officials why am I also welcome here, they say because I looked Chinese and the Chinese have helped build ports, railways, roads, schools and hospitals. China remains the biggest contributor of peacekeepers among the permanent members of the UN Security Council. The proud sons and daughters of the Chinese people are among the UN peacekeepers that gave their lives to the mission of peace in many parts of the world.
在安哥拉内战结束几年后，我有幸作为投资代表之一前往安哥拉考察，当地人民热情地欢迎了我们。我问当地政府官员为什么我在当地也受欢迎，他们告诉我这是因为我看起来像中国人，而正是中国人帮助当地人建起了港口、铁路、道路、学校和医院。中国目前仍是联合国安理会五大常任理事国中对维和事业作出最大贡献的国家。奔赴世界各地投身维和事业的中国军人，尤其是那些在执行任务时牺牲生命的维和警察们是中国人的骄傲。
It took me only 5 hours to travel from Beijing to Hangzhou, polishing my speech on the train while travelling at the speed of 303 km/hour, overlooking the fields, factories and high-rise buildings. And in Hangzhou, this is the place where G20 summit was hosted and many fortune global companies are located here.
仅5个小时的高铁我便从北京到达了杭州，在时速303公里的高铁上我撰写着这篇演讲稿，看着窗外的田地、工厂和高楼大厦。杭州是G20峰会的举办城市，也是许多世界五百强公司的聚集地。
This is China today. A China that is global and connected.
这就是今天的中国。一个全球化的、联通的中国。
As China’s interaction with the world continues to deepen, we rely on the business communities who are going global to represent the goodwill of the Chinese people. We also rely on Chinese entrepreneurs who share a global perspective and remain rooted in their Chinese characteristics that embody win-win, openness, ‘can-do’ attitude, hard work and the willingness to keep learning and growing. We rely on governments officials who understand the concept of economic diplomacy and multilateral trade. And we can only achieve all these through inspiring the next generation and working with youth and supporting them with the necessary resources, providing them with access to good education and becoming a role model that they can look up to. That’s why forums like this, where we gather the business community, governments and our international friends are so valuable. And all of us can play a part in inspiring the next generation and creating shared prosperity for mankind.
随着中国和世界的联系不断加深，我们依赖于正在走出去的中国商界团体来展现中国人的善意。我们依赖于企业家们，他们既具有全球视野，又秉持共赢和开放精神和“我能做”的态度，努力工作，愿意不断学习和成长，这些正是中国精神在他们身上的体现。我们也依赖于能偶理解经济外交和跨国贸易的政府官员。为此，我们需要启发下一代，与青年一起工作，给他们提供必要的资源，让他们接受良好的教育并成为他们能够仰望的模范。这也是为什么这类论坛，这类齐聚商界人士、政府官员和国际朋友的论坛如此珍贵。我们都能够在启发下一代、创造人类共同的繁荣中尽自己一份力量。
10 to 15 years ago, many Chinese students who have studied abroad were hesitant to return to China, but now not only do Chinese students want to return to their motherland upon completing their studies, but people from all over the world want to come to China as this is where all the action is. Nearly half a million Chinese students return from the US and the UK every year upon completing their studies. There are 171 missions and embassies in Beijing alone, making China the most international and diverse community around the world. Alone, we can only do so little, but together with a group of bilingual, bi-cultural and internationally exposed group of young people, under the right guidance and sound policies, we will be able to do something truly far-reaching and impactful.
10到15年前，许多出国学习的中国学生都会犹豫是否要回国。而现在，不仅是中国学生想要在完成学业后立即归国，世界各地的人都想来到中国，因为这里是活动的中心。每年近50万中国学生在美国和英国完成学业后回国。仅仅在北京就有171个使团和大使馆，中国已成为世界上最国际化和最具多样性的国度。凭借一人之力，我们能做的太少；但同一群通晓双语，拥有双重文化背景和国际视野的年轻人们一起，配以正确的指导和完善的政策，我们就能做出有深远影响力的事情。
Ladies and Gentlemen,
女士们，先生们
Friends,
朋友们，
The ancient Chinese believed that “one should be good at finding the laws of things and solving problems”. Building a thriving economy and creating a shared future is an exciting goal, and it requires efforts from generation after generation. The business community is the main driver of growth and I see Hangzhou at the forefront of this driving the growth. The next generation of business owners and the sons and daughters of family enterprises will need to carry China’s legacy forward and for China to be truly global, we need to win the hearts and the minds of other nations. We need to win the respect of other people. People of other culture, race and background. And to do so, we need the help of young people and entrepreneurs, for they are the future. And therefore, I invite all of you, to help plant the seed of goodwill and continue the people to people exchange and to be a role model for the youth.
《荀子》有云：“善学者尽其理，善行者究其难。”建立繁荣的经济、创造共享的未来是一个让人神往的目标，它需要一代又一代的努力。商业界是经济增长最主要的驱动力，我认为杭州正处于经济增长的前沿地带。下一代的企业家、家族企业的继承人们需要继承中国的遗产并继续前行。中国要要想真正变成一个全球化的国家，就需要赢得其它国家的支持，需要赢得不同文化、种族和背景的人民的尊重。我们需要年轻人和青年企业家的帮助，因为他们就是未来。因此，我邀请在座各位，一起播下善意的种子，继续开展人与人之间的交流，并成为青年的榜样。
Thank you.
谢谢大家！
