distinguished guest, ladies and gentlemen: good morning!

you may know an old chinese saying: it is always a pleasure to greet a friend from afar. on behalf of the organizing committee, i would like to express our warm welcome and best wishes to all of you.

coal is one of the major important energy resources in the world. rational development and efficient utilization of coal is critical to the social and economic growth. coal exploration has a long history, and coal miners has been praised as the“envois of brightness and warmth. we are very proud of the glorious cause we have been doing!

at the new era, we witnessed the social and economic development as well as scientific and technological progress, dramatic changes have taken place in the global coal industry. coal demand continues to increase; enterprise restructuring is speeding up, production efficiency has greatly improved, coal utilization has become diversified.[dai'və:sifai], clean coal technology has caught worldwide attention, and the cooperation and collaboration between coal companies is much more frequent and closer. strengthening international economic cooperation has become the natural

choice for countries around the world.

based on our common understanding, we at shenhua group would propose that, in order to promote the cooperation and development in mining industry, we shall establish a good platform for the major coal plays in the world to have more communications and exchanges and promote multilateral cooperation, so as to jointly promote the cooperation and development of the global coal industry as a whole.

i am glad that our colleagues from different countries have given us the valuable assistance. many companies have expressed their willingness to join the platform. after having an overall consideration of the production scale, operation measures and proficiency of coal companies, we invited 15 companies from 11 countries such as australia, germany, india, indonesia, poland, russia, south africa, thailand, america, viet nam and china to be the co-founders of the platform. we believe these companies are very influential in the global coal industry.

as the host of this competition, shenhua group corporation limited was founded in 1995. it is an integrated energy company with principal business covering coal production, power generation, railway, port, coal liquefaction and coal chemicals. shenhua group now has 58 coal mines, and 16 of these coal mines have an annual capacity of more than 10 million tons.

in 2010, shenhua group ranks 356 among the world top 500, its raw coal production capacity and coal sales are expected to reach 350 million tons and 420 million tons with a total revenue and profit of rmb 200 billion and rmb 60 billion respectively.

looking back to the rapid development of shenhua group, we have a profound understanding that creating value and sharing success is the common pursuit of mankind; knowledge innovation and technical improvement is the eternal driving force for enterprise development; the gathering from all over the world and win-win cooperation is the only way to a company’s prosperity.

on the platform of “shenhua cup”international mining skills competition, we aim to learn from each other, to strengthen cooperation and communication, to enhance friendship and to have a broader

utilization.['ju:tilaiz] of brand new concept, technology and equipment in coal industry. we are also holding this event to promote technological progress and sound development and to enhance the life quality of all mankind.

we wish to work with other companies to study, discuss and communicate issues concerning safety, environmental protection and efficient exploration technologies, to improve the management level of coal enterprises and to make contribution to the rational development and efficient utilization of coal resources around the globe.

we promise to make all efforts and bring the best talent to strengthen the cooperation with participating teams, strive to make the preparatory work perfect, therefore to provide an excellent, remarkable, memorable grand gathering.

we hope to establish a communication platform and to make“shenhua cup”a famous competition in global mining industry. the event should be passed on from one another as a bridge to enhance friendship and promote cooperation.

together with our efforts, we believe“shenhua cup”international mining skills competition will definitely make great success!

last but not least, my distinguished guests and dear friends, i wish all the best with your life and work!

thank you!