Welcoming the 60 participants in the second annual conference dinner of Friends of Socialist China, Keith Bennett stated: “The fact that you have chosen to spend this evening with us is, I think, a real testimony to our friendship, based on our shared belief that a better world is both possible and necessary.”

From the website of Friends of Socialist China:

Friends of Socialist China held its second annual Christmas dinner at the Hiba Express Palestinian restaurant in central London’s Holborn district on Sunday, December 15. Just over 60 people attended, including senior representatives of the embassies of China, Laos and Cuba, members of the Chinese media corps in London, the London representative of Sinn Féin, comrades from Malaysia, Holland and Luxembourg, and activists from a broad range of progressive organisations with whom we have been working over the past year.

Speaking before dinner, our co-editor Keith Bennett reviewed our work over the last 12 months and reiterated our solidarity with the people of Palestine.

Responding, Minister Zhao Fei from the Chinese Embassy said:

Over the past three years, the Friends of Socialist China have done incredible work in helping more people learn about and understand China.

As 2024 draws to a close, China has calmly navigated the changing domestic and international environment with comprehensive strategies. Our economy continues to grow steadily, and we have made significant progress across many areas. The upcoming year, 2025, marks the final year of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan. It is also a pivotal year as China begins its march towards the second Centenary Goal of building a modern socialist country by building on the success of building a moderately well-off society. A host of major strategies, reforms, and projects will be implemented, injecting fresh vitality and momentum into Chinese society. The future of socialist China will surely be even brighter and will bring more opportunities for global development.

We also took the opportunity to honour Comrade Kamal Majid, a lifelong communist of Iraqi origin, retired professor and member of our Advisory Group, on his upcoming 95^th birthday. His birthday cake was suitably decorated with red flag and hammer and sickle icing.

Text of the speech by Keith Bennett

Full account of the celebration on the website of Friends of China.