Ｓｐｅｅｃｈ ｂｙ Ｎｅｗ Ｚｅａｌａｎｄ－Ｃｈｉｎａ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ Ｓｏｃｉｅｔｙ Ｎａｔｉｏｎａｌ Ｐｒｅｓｉｄｅｎｔ Ｍａｒｇａｒｅｔ Ｃｏｏｐｅｒ（Ｅｘｃｅｒｐｔｓ）

Rewi Alley was a great man – a New Zealander who made a difference to many thousands of Chinese people. We are here today to reflect， remember and honour this man， acknowledge the work that he did in China during the sixty years that he lived with the people he loved， and celebrate the links that he established between our two countries.

In his lifetime， Rewi lived out many roles: son， soldier， farmer， traveler， fire and factory inspector， radio technician and operator， headmaster teacher， poet， author， scholar， goodwill ambassador and humanitarian. His life and work have been recognized in a number of ways. In China he was conferred honorary citizenship of Gansu Province and of Beijing. In New Zealand， he was awarded a Queens Service Order by the New Zealand Government， and an honorary Doctorate of Literature from the University of Victoria in Wellington.

During his colourful lifetime， Rewi was always able to reach out to people. He had a gift of being able to communicate at all levels. If there was a need to build something， raise money， or develop a project he had great ability to make it happen.The Gung Ho movement is a good example of Rewi initiating a project that assisted so many people. As you know it continues today.

It is my pleasure to extend the sincere best wishes to all assembled here today from all the members of the New Zealand China Friendship Society.Rewi Alley was a founder of our society and he remains an inspiration to us all. Each member of our society is very aware of Rewi Alley and the great work that he undertook and it is our commitment to keep his legacy alive and support those institutions that he began so many years ago.

Our thirteen Branches throughout New Zealand have been involved in the past， raising money for tractors， equipment and providing resources for Shandan Bailie School. We annually recruit， and finance the airfares and expenses， for a New Zealander toteach English at Shandan Bailie School.

The New Zealand China Friendship Society has actively developed projects that continue the work of Rewi Alley. In 2006 we developed and successfully funded a project entitled “Development of Rural Cooperatives in Shandan County”， which has worked with Rewi’s key foundations of Gung Ho， Shandan Bailie School and Shandan Cooperative Federation. This project has assisted 8 villages in Shandan to establish producer cooperatives. We are currently seeking funding by the New Zealand Government for a follow-on project to help to establish further cooperatives in rural Shandan. Through these kinds of projects New Zealand China Friendship Society is committed to promoting Rewi Alley's causes in 21st century China.

In his latter years he saw change coming to China， but what would he have thought about the great modernization that has taken place here in China over the past twenty years since his passing? I am quite sure that he would have embraced it as just another challenge， working within the current Government direction to construct a New Socialist Countryside to extend assistance to those living outside the wealthy city areas.

But we must reflect back on the good New Zealand – China relations that Rewi played a very significant part in fostering， and worked so sincerely to establish.He wanted our two countries to be friends， trade together， and for our two people to travel freely to each other’s countries， and for our future generations to live in peace. In this， he would be very pleased with our current levels of genuine friendship.

In closing Rewi was a true friend to all who had a pleasure of knowing him， and a New Zealander that we can be extremely proud of and continue to be inspired by.