In the afternoon of March 29, 2014 local time, President Xi Jinping visited the Port of Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany. It is to push the building of the Silk Road Economic Belt.
Upon arrival, Xi Jinping was warmly welcomed by Hannelore Kraft, Governor of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and Soren Link, Mayor of the City of Duisburg. He was accompanied by Sigmar Gabriel, German Federal Vice-Chancellor and Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, during his visit to the Port of Duisburg.
Xi Jinping arrived at the platform of the railway station. After three bangs on a gong, a fully-loaded train originating from Chongqing, China, slowly pull into the station - the ending point of Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe International Railway, a railway starting from Chongqing, going through Xinjiang and Eurasia, and terminated in Europe.
Xi Jinping said, the initiative of building the Silk Road Economic Belt, which was proposed by China, follows a philosophy of common development and common prosperity. It aims to link the two big markets of Asia and Europe together, give new substance of the time to the ancient Silk Road, and benefit the people along the Road. China and Germany, located at both ends of the Silk Road Economic Belt, are two major economies and growth poles in Asia and Europe and the starting point and the ending point of Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe International Railway. Therefore, the two countries should strengthen cooperation and promote the building of Silk Road Economic Belt. The Port of Duisburg, as the world's largest inland port and an important transportation and logistics hub in Europe, should play a bigger role in promoting China-Europe cooperation and development.
At the welcoming ceremony, Governor Kraft and Mayor Link delivered welcoming speeches. They both indicated that they would seize new opportunities generated by the initiative of building the Silk Road Economic Belt to enhance cooperation with China.
Wang Huning, Li Zhanshu, and Yang Jiechi were present at the event.
In the afternoon, Peng Liyuan, wife of President Xi Jinping, arrived at Burg-Gymnasium (High School) in Essen, NRW. When she walked into the classroom to observe the class, a Chinese teacher was explaining the meaning of a Chinese character, “梦” (which means “dream” in English). The students were very enthusiastic to share their own "Chinese dreams" in Chinese: to learn traditional Chinese medicine, to eat Chinese food, to travel to China, and to make Chinese friends ... A student asked Peng Liyuan about her Chinese dream. Peng Liyuan stood up and answered that her Chinese dream is that all children in the world, especially the girls, could receive good education just like students in Burg-Gymnasium. Having heard her sharing, the classroom broke into knowing laughter.
The auditorium of the school was filled with students and teachers. The students sang a Chinese song, “Let Us Sway Twin Oars” and performed a short drama - "Mencius' mother moves her home three times to better her son's education". Peng Liyuan encouraged them to study Chinese and go to China for a better understanding of the Chinese history and culture.
As one of Germany's oldest public high school, Burg-Gymnasium offers the Chinese language course.