Following is the full text of the speech delivered by Philip Craven, president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) at the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games on Wednesday night:

Closing Speech for the XIII Paralympic Games

17 September 2008

Zun Jing de Hu Jintao zhu xi ji Fu Ren

(Respected President Hu Jintao and Mrs. Hu)

Athletes, Officials, Distinguished Guests

Paralympic Sports fans from all over the world:

Wan Shang hao Huan Ying Ni men

(Good Evening, Welcome to all of you)

2,500 years ago Confucius said, "You Peng Zi Yuan Fang Lai, Bu Yi Yue Hu? "

"There are friends who have come from afar, is that not after all delightful?"

On behalf of all members of the Paralympic Family, may I take the liberty to paraphrase the Good man's great words. "It is equally delightful to come from afar and make new friends here in China".

We have to give a big thank you to BOCOG and its President, Liu Qi,

the athletes,

the fantastic volunteers,

The officials and staff of the IPC, the IFs and NPCs

the 5,500 media who have covered the Games and, in particular Manolo Romero and his team for the television images,

the sponsors

and last but certainly not least you, the inspirational spectators.

What a great Paralympic Games this has been!

An ethereal Opening Ceremony,

Staggering athletic performances in perfect stadia,

The best-ever Paralympic Villages,

Amazing high definition television coverage,

A never-ending and self-generating supply of passion and emotion,

Superb organization

Wonderful volunteers

Millions of new Paralympic sports afficionados both here in China and around the world

These are the greatest Paralympic Games EVER.

It is all about spirit.

The Paralympic spirit that is ever bright in our movement, found here in China, a kindred spirit. It reached out to you, you embraced it and it is now cherished in your hearts. Now these spirits are united,

"One World"

"One Dream"

and "One People" has become a reality.

All athletes, coaches and officials should take the unique sporting spirit from these Games to the four corners of this planet, Earth. There, encourage new athletes, make new friends and inspire them to light the flame in their hearts.

Finally the time has come for me to declare the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games closed.

I call upon Paralympic athletes from all over the world to meet in London in four years time when once again you will inspire and excite the world with your sporting excellence.

Xie Xie Xiang Gang, (Thank you Hong Kong),

Xie Xie Qingdao, (Thank you Qingdao),

Xie Xie Beijing, (Thank you Beijing),

Xie Xie Zhong Guo. (Thank you China)!

尊敬的胡錦濤主席及夫人，

運動員們，

官員們，

尊敬的來賓們，

全世界的殘奧會運動愛好者們:

晚上好，歡迎你們。

2500年前，孔子曾說過“有朋自遠(yuǎn)方來，不亦樂乎”。今天，請允許我代表所有殘奧大家庭成員，冒昧地對圣人的這句名言做這樣的闡發(fā)，我們自遠(yuǎn)方來，在中國結(jié)交朋友，同樣樂在其中，我們衷心感謝。

我們衷心感謝北京奧組委劉淇主席，運動員們，優(yōu)秀的志愿者們，國際殘奧委委員，國際單項體育聯(lián)合會及各國家和地區(qū)殘奧委會的官員和工作人員，前來報道賽事的5500名媒體工作人員，特別是負(fù)責(zé)電視轉(zhuǎn)播的馬諾羅·羅梅羅先生和他的團隊，以及所有贊助商。

最后，特別要感謝你們，熱情洋溢的觀眾們，這是一屆多么偉大的盛會，開幕式美輪美奐，體育場館完美無暇，運動競技表演令人嘆為觀止，殘奧村條件之優(yōu)越史無前例，高清電視轉(zhuǎn)播令人稱奇，志愿者們出類拔萃，千千萬萬的殘奧體育迷在中國和世界各地涌現(xiàn)，這是有史以來最偉大的一屆殘奧會，這一切源自于精神的力量，這種精神就是殘奧精神，它在我們運動中永放光芒。

如今，殘奧精神在中國得到進一步發(fā)揚光大，它走近你們，你們擁抱它，將之珍藏于心?，F(xiàn)在，這些精神匯聚在一起，同一個世界，同一個夢想，所有人都是同樣的人，已成為現(xiàn)實，所有運動員、教練員和官員應(yīng)該把本屆殘奧會獨一無二的體育精神帶往地球的四面八方，以此鼓勵更多的人參與運動，結(jié)交朋友，點燃心靈之火。

最后，我宣布北京2008年殘奧運動會閉幕，來自世界各地的殘奧健兒，我在此號召你們四年后相聚倫敦，屆時你們將再次展現(xiàn)高超的體育競技水平，振奮人心，感動世界。

謝謝香港，

謝謝青島，

謝謝北京，

謝謝中國。

（來源：cctv.com/滬江博客 英語點津姍姍編輯）