20 August 2023, University of Jordan, Amman

Your Excellency Professor Dr. Nathir Obeidat, President of the University of Jordan,

Ms. Rawan Khoury, Director of Communications of the Crown Prince Foundation,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen and dear friends,

Good morning and As-Salamu Alaikum.

It is a great pleasure for me to attend this exciting event organized by the Amman China Cultural Centre and Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Culture, Broadcast-TV, and Tourism, hosted by the University of Jordan.

Animation and Comics is not only a form of entertainment, but also a potent tool for expression of culture, tradition, ideas and values. It is a thriving industry, powered by artistic creativity, technology innovation and business development. It transcends boundaries of language, culture and geography with the universal language of arts, and it enriches our cultural diversity.

Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province where I was born, is a city best known for the giant panda, spicy but delicious food and chic lifestyle. It is dubbed in China as a city “you find it so hard to leave”.

Chengdu is not only a top tourist destination but also a centre of animation, representing China’s fast growing animation industry. Among the most popular animation and comics works, are those inspired by traditional Chinese culture and folk tales. NE ZHA, a very popular animation movie about a brave boy fighting evil to save the world, was produced by a company in Chengdu. The movie grossed RMB 5 billion yuan/US$ 700 million in box office.   

Jordan, like China, boasts of an ancient civilization and modern dynamism. The University of Jordan is a vibrant regional centre of knowledge, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. It also has the largest number of Chinese language students in Jordan. Therefore, it is most fitting to have the first Chinese animation and comics exhibition at the University.

Dear friends,

I hope the exhibition will showcase the latest development of China’s animation industry, foster dialogue and collaboration between Chinese and Jordanian professionals and students in the animation community. 

I also hope the exhibition will offer the students and the general public a unique opportunity to appreciate, through the works on display, the richness, diversity and modernity of Chinese culture and arts, the social trend as well as the openness and inclusiveness of young minds in China. Animation and comics can serve as a bridge of culture, a bridge of hearts and minds, and a bridge of friendship.

I would like to express our sincere appreciation to the University of Jordan and President Obeidat for graciously hosting the event. We also thank the Crown Prince Foundation for its valuable support.  

Finally, I wish the exhibition a complete success.

Thank you and enjoy the show.