The consulate general of China hosted a welcome reception at ITC Royal Bengal for Xu Yei, the new consul general who joined in June. He is the sixth Chinese consul general in Calcutta.
Xu has earlier served in Malaysia, Singapore, Maldives and Canada, informed deputy consul general Qin Yong, who read out his introduction.
The audience at the reception
Taking the stage, Xu said: “Many years ago, a friend told me that I must visit India at least once in my life. When I asked why, I was told India was amazing and incredible. So here I am in the amazing city of culture in incredible India after all these years.”
He spoke of the year being the centenary of Rabindranath Tagore’s visit to China. “We invited a team of artistes and scholars to retrace his footsteps and take part in commemorative activities in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen,” he said as footage from the visit played on the big screen.
Deputy consul general of China Qin Yong
China, he pointed out, is India’s “biggest trade partner” and “India’s exports and imports have both increased”. “We will continue to facilitate friends from eastern India to visit China for business purposes. We hope that India can also provide more convenience to Chinese people travelling to India for business opportunities,” the consul general commented, inviting the guests to partake of dinner. No prizes for guessing the cuisine on offer! Chinese, of course.