Bill Clinton: “Thank you very much, Vice Mayor Zhou; Deputy Magistrate Wang; to developer Gu Cai Xin; to the Tang family, whose home…”

“Thank you very much, Vice Mayor Zhou; Deputy Magistrate Wang; to developer Gu Cai Xin; to the Tang family, whose home the Members of the U.S. Congress visited; and to Ms. Yu and her family, who were very kind to take me into their home; and to all of you. It's a pleasure to be here today. I would like to begin by thanking the folk music band for the wonderful music. Thank you very much. And I would like to say to all of you who are moving into new homes, Gong xi, gong xi. Congratulations. More than 20 years ago, I bought my first home. I actually bought it because my girlfriend liked the house. [Laughter] We were driving by the house one day--it was a very small house--and she said, ``I like that house very much.'' So I found out the house did not cost too much money, and I bought it. And then I said to my girlfriend, ``I bought that house you like; now you'll have to marry me.'' [Laughter] And she did. So I hope that your homes bring you as much joy as mine did 23 years ago. I came here with your local officials and Ambassador Sasser and Ambassador Li and the Members of Congress to emphasize the importance of homeownership to the future of the people of China and to the prosperity of your country. As you could see from what Ms. Yu said, owning a home is a source of pride to a family and a tribute to its industry and hard work. But all China benefits from more homeowners because that means more jobs, a stronger economy, stronger families.…”