First of all, please allow me to pay respects to:

His Right Honorable Prime Minister Matekane,

Honorable Minister of Information, Communications, Science, Technology and Innovation,

Honorable Minister of Gender, Youth and Social Development,

All government officials，

Dear officers of Huawei Technologies South Africa,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my pleasure to accompany His Right Honourable Prime Minister on this visit to Huawei office park in Johannesburg. It’s a good opportunity for all of us to understand digitalization and how the artificial intelligence (AI) technology has changed the world and will continue to change the world in much greater ways.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Some may say AI belongs only to Silicon Valley. But I would like to say innovation has no passport and no visa is needed. The algorithm doesn't care if you code in Johannesburg or San Francisco. You can code in Maseru and Beijing. What matters is your creativity and innovation. Innovation is your passport and diligence is your visa. Basotho people used to conquer mountains that touch the sky. Today, a new peak calls to your courage ---- the digital frontier. And just as Lesotho's mountains shape resilient climbers, this digital ascent will be conquered by those who dare, including you. Lesotho's unique challenges are your greatest inspiration. You will build Africa's first AI model for preserving Sesotho language and design drones delivering medicines to remote areas and villages. Remember: In these mountains to a digital life, every step upward changes the horizon.

Ladies and Gentlemen

In the process of climbing the mountains, Huawei can offer you the climbing tools. As a flagship of Chinese technological enterprises, Huawei stands at the forefront of global digital innovation. Defying extraordinary challenges, it has redefined resilience and ambition: leading the world in 5G deployment with cutting-edge infrastructure spanning continents. Huawei also empowers industries through its AI technology to drive smart cities, intelligent manufacturing, and inclusive digital transformation worldwide.

Huawei mirrors China’s broader tech revolution. China now operates the planet’s largest 5G and fiber-optic networks, leads in AI adoption, and champions national strategies like “Digital China.” China’s digital economy is among the most vibrant in the world,growing at an exponential rate that can be outcompeted by few. China represented 61.5 percent of the 45,000 generative AI patents newly published worldwide in 2024. The boom of cutting-edge digital technologies has emerged as a new engine driving China's economic growth. China hasn’t just closed the tech gap, it’s setting new standards for a digital future and digital world.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Facing the mountains, China is not only striving to climb but also inviting the world to climb together in a way that benefits humanity and contributes to building a community with a shared future for mankind. In 2023, President Xi Jinping put forward the Global AI Governance Initiative, contributing China's proposal and wisdom to the development of AI. The Initiative briefly advocates adhering to a people-centered approach in developing AI for good, with the goal of enhancing people’s well-being and serving economic and social progress, while preventing the misuse and malicious use of AI technologies. The Initiative emphasizes enhancing the representation and voice of developing countries in global AI governance, ensuring equal rights, equal opportunities, and equal rules for all countries in AI development and governance. The Initiative supports coordination within the U.N. framework to address major issues concerning international AI development, security and governance, and advocates building open, fair and efficient governing mechanisms. The Initiative put forward by President Xi Jinping has charted a constructive path forward for global AI governance, holding great historical and practical significance.

The difficult process of climbing mountains requires a supportive partner. China and Lesotho share a deep-rooted friendship and we are steadfast partners that have long supported each other. Chinese enterprises have been investing and operating in Lesotho for a long time. Some of them have rooted in Lesotho for more than 30 years, actively integrating into the local community, fostering harmonious relations with the Basotho people, making significant contributions to Lesotho's socio-economic development, and enhancing the quality of life for its citizens. Currently, China-Lesotho relations have been elevated to a strategic partnership, and both parties are working diligently to implement the outcomes of the 2024 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Digital technology cooperation is also an important part of the outcomes. We will continue to encourage and support Chinese enterprises, including and especially Huawei, to expand their business in Lesotho, achieving genuine mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, and jointly contributing to the building of a China-Lesotho community with a shared future and an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.

Thank you!