In this fabulous spring season, COSCO is embracing her 50th anniversary. It is not only a m ilest  one for Cosco, but a significant event for the entire shipping community. On behalf of Cosco Group, I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks and admiration to our worldwide clients and partners for your dedicated support and trust.

50 years ago, the maiden voyage of Guang Hua opened the first page of the maritime industry’s history in the People’s Republic of China. Since then, Cosco has become a major shipping player in this relatively newly-founded country. Time flies quickly as half a century has passed since the founding of Cosco. Looking back, Cosco Group has made remarkable achievements. With dedicated efforts made by many generations of Cosco people, the company has grown from a small-size shipping company with a mere four vessels of 22,600 deadweight tons, into a Fortune 500 global company and a transnational conglomerate group specializing in shipping, logistics, terminal operation, as well as shipbuilding and ship repair.

Entering into the 21st century, Cosco Group has successfully achieved a giant step forward, driven by the unprecedented shipping industry boom resulting from the “China Factor” momentum. Guided by a scientific outlook on development that utilizes a global perspective and strategic outlook, Cosco Group has accomplished outstanding growth by implementing two transformations within the highly competitive global shipping industry. At the end of 2010, Cosco Group owned and operated more than 800 vessels with a combined tonnage of over 56,000,000 deadweight tons, and emerged as the second-largest shipping enterprise in the world. Specifically, our container fleet now ranks No. 1 in China and No. 6 in the world; our dry bulk fleet firmly stands at No. 1 in the world; and in addition, we are operating one of the world’s leading general cargo and multipurpose (special purpose) fleets, and one of the largest tanker fleets. Cosco Logistics Co. Ltd, our logistics pillar company, has remained the best domestic logistic service provider for five consecutive years. The core competitiveness of Cosco’s shipbuilding and repair is uniquely superb in terms of its profitability, management and technical know-how, and the annual throughputs of Cosco Pacific’s terminals operation currently ranks No. 5 in the world.

In the past decade, Cosco Group has adopted a “two-wheel ”strategy that combines and accelerates our physical business operations and capital-based assets operations. Guided by this strategy, Cosco Group upgraded its assets structure through internal lean management and external restructuring, reduced asset-debt ratio, expanded core business and improved our overall competitiveness.

While trying our utmost to improve our business performance, Cosco Group has also been a pioneer in advancing green shipping. We are carrying out our social commitments in promoting slow steaming navigation and clean energy utilization to create an environment-friendly shipping enterprise and to contribute to the sustainable developments of global shipping industry.

As a member of the United Nation’s Global Compact Lead Program, Cosco Group upholds the sustainability-based development theory of “harmonious development and benefiting the entire human society,” and sticks firmly to the 10 principles of Global Compact to optimize the corporate citizenship mechanism. We also have included measures of the Global Compact into our corporate future strategy, linking the sustainable development mode from Global Compact to the future of Cosco. To follow the Global Compact more actively, Cosco Group committed to support a wide range of UN-related activities and programs, proactively shouldering the social responsibility of the corporation and generously participating in social charity programs to help alleviate poverty and aid in disaster relief efforts.

Despite all of this, our success has not come easily. In aiming to build a century of glories for Cosco, we will spare no efforts -- with persistent competitiveness -- to adjust our internal service structure, improve our branding value and build Cosco into a world’s leading business entity.