President Chen, faculty and students of Beijing Foreign Studies University:
陈校长，北京外国语大学的教职员工和同学们：
Thank you for inviting me here today. It is truly an honor to be here, and I congratulate you on celebrating your 70th anniversary. The start of a school year marks a new beginning for students. And so it’s fitting that I’m here to talk about a new beginning of my own.
I want to say how grateful I am for the warm welcome that my family and I have received from the Chinese people. As you know, my ancestral home is in Taishan in Guangdong province. Since our arrival, the people of China have made my entire family feel, simply put: at home — And we are grateful.
One thing I do know is that the people in this room will have a lot of influence in the future of the U.S.-China relationship. For 70 years, Beijing Foreign Studies University has been a training ground for hundreds of China’s top leaders, including my friend and YOUR ambassador to the U.S., Zhang Yesui. Whatever your careers, in the years ahead, you will be the international face of China, and your choices will determine the steps China takes in confronting its own — and the world’s — challenges.
There’s plenty of new thinking occurring everyday here at Beijing Foreign Studies University. By the very nature of your study of different languages and cultures, you’re opening your minds to a world of possibilities. In the years ahead, as you become the leaders and entrepreneurs and artists who shape China, I hope you will stay open, and encourage the same sensibility among your countrymen and women. We know that a more open China will lead to a stronger China and a more prosperous China. And more transparency in the U.S.-China relationship will help us further increase U.S.-China cooperation, improve mutual understanding, and deepen our relationship. I look forward to working with you, China’s leaders and the Chinese people on finding new ways to cooperate and continuing to advance our relationship to meet the challenges not only of today, but of tomorrow as well.