40th Anniversary of Ping Pong Diplomacy Commemorated in Beijing

At the 31st World Table Tennis Championship held in Japan in 1971， an American table tennis player Glenn Cowen who unintentionally got on a wrong team bus and a chat between him and a Chinese player Zhuang Zedong started the “ice thawing” journey between China and the United States. The small white balls that sprang open the door to exchanges between China and the United States that had been closed for over 20 years shocked the world and was later referred to as “Ping Pong Diplomacy”.

On December 8， 2011， the CPAFFC and the State General Administration of Sports (SGAS) held an activity commemorating the 40th anniversary of China-US Ping-Pong Diplomacy in the Great Hall of the People. Vice President Xi Jinping and former US President Jimmy Carter attended the event and made speeches. Xu Kuangdi， President of the China-US People’s Friendship Association; Liu Peng， Director of the SGAS; Li Xiaolin， President of the CPAFFC; personages who had participated in Ping-Pong Diplomacy and people of various circles of the two countries totaling around 300 were present.

Vice President Xi said in his speech， Ping-Pong Diplomacy not only shortened the distance between the people of China and the United States but also opened the historical prelude for the improvement and development of China-US relations. Over the past 40 years， with the joint efforts of generations of leaders and visionary people from various circles of the two countries， China-US relations have achieved historic development amid twists and turns. Today， leaders of the two countries maintain close exchanges and dialogue and the two countries enjoy ever deepening mutually beneficial and win-win economic and trade cooperation， steady progress of cooperation in energy， environment， culture， science and technology， law enforcement and other fields， and effective communication and coordination in tackling the global challenges of financial crisis and climate change as well as hot-spot issues of the Korean Peninsula and Iranian nuclear issues. Facts have proved that to work together is the only correct choice for the two countries and an irreversible historical trend.

He noted， China and the United States， following the consensus reached between President Hu Jintao and President Obama， are working together to build the cooperative partnership of mutual respect and mutual benefit. The two sides must fully learn from the historical experience， seize the hour and the day to strengthen dialogue， mutual trust and cooperation and further tap the huge cooperation potential; properly handle sensitive issues with caution in the spirit of mutual respect and equal treatment and effectively manage differences to ensure that the bilateral ties move forward on a healthy track. Friendship between the people is the inexhaustible source of power and important foundation for the progress of China-US relations. He hoped the two countries would further tighten friendship through cultural exchanges and inject lasting and exuberant vitality into the bilateral ties.

In his speech， Mr. Carter said， China is a great country he has always been admiring. He was very excited hearing that Premier Zhou Enlai invited the American table tennis athletes to visit China in 1971 because he always believed that the United States and China should and could become good friends. Then President Nixon visited China， and Mr. Deng Xiaoping and he realized the establishment of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China in 1979. He said， today， the two countries are building the bilateral relations based on mutual respect and mutual benefit， which not only is beneficial to the United States and China， but also serves the common interests of the world. The exchanges and friendship between the American and the Chinese people are long lasting. While the two countries have differences， for instance in the sectors of trade， these differences are trivial compared with the common interests of the two countries. He would be committed to further advancing the bilateral relations.

During the commemorative activity， new and old Chinese and American national table tennis champions had four friendship matches—men’s doubles， women’s doubles， mixed doubles and men’s singles. Xi Jinping and Carter watched the matches.

Xi Jinping met with Carter before the event kicked off. He expressed admiration for Carter’s long-term efforts of promoting China-US relations and exchanged opinions with him on further developing the bilateral ties. He hoped Carter would make new contributions to the healthy and stable progress of bilateral relations.

Xi and Carter jointly autographed the ping-pong rackets commemorating the 40th anniversary of Ping-Pong Diplomacy.