Chinese embassies and consulates in various countries have organized vibrant receptions to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year, offering festive activities and cultural performances that showcase the richness of Chinese traditions.
The Spring Festival centers around the Chinese New Year, which this year lands on Jan 29, ushering in the Year of the Snake.
The Chinese Embassy in Iran celebrated the occasion with an immersive cultural event featuring traditional crafts like paper-cutting and hands-on culinary experiences, such as dumpling making and tasting sweet "Tangyuan," - a ball-shaped glutinous rice dessert symbolizing family reunion during the Lunar New Year.
A promotional video showcasing the upcoming 2025 Spring Festival Gala produced by the China Media Group (CMG) was also screened at the gathering.
First broadcast back in 1983, the hours-long television extravaganza is seen as a major cultural symbol for the traditional Spring Festival celebrations in China. Aired on the eve of the Chinese New Year, the Spring Festival Gala has been recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world's most-watched annual TV program.
The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan hosted a Spring Festival-themed fair that attracted over 500 attendees, including Pakistani dignitaries, overseas Chinese, representatives from Chinese-funded institutions.
In addition to a lively lineup of performances, the fair featured over 20 booths where attendees could experience Chinese calligraphy, traditional cuisine, Chinese medicine consultations, and tea art.
The Chinese Embassy in Hungary also held a event where Chinese Lunar New Year wishes from the motherland were extended to the overseas Chinese community there.
The Chinese Consulate General in Frankfurt, Germany, prepared special Spring Festival gift packages for overseas Chinese. Students studying in Germany sang heartfelt songs to celebrate the festival with their fellow compatriots.
A lively dragon dance and elegant classical Chinese dance performances were staged at a reception hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Sao Tome and Principe, spicing up the festive atmosphere.
Chinese diplomatic missions hold celebrations for Spring Festival
China's development has never been a "threat" to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference in Beijing on Friday.
Some Western media and think tanks are peddling so-called "China Shock 2.0," saying that "China is achieving fast development in high-tech sectors such as renewable energy and AI and relies on foreign markets to absorb its overcapacity, thus reducing the market share of developed countries and sending more serious shock waves to the global economy compared with the era of traditional manufacture industry," while there are foreign commentators saying that the "China Shock 2.0" argument ignores the genuine innovation occurring within the Chinese industrial ecosystem and that Chinese export is the exact booster of the global economy that is needed in the turbulent period and more indispensable than ever.
Commenting on that, Lin said: "From the world's factory to the world's market and innovation powerhouse, China's development is achieved through strong performance driven by innovation and brings tangible cooperation opportunities and space to the world. High-quality Chinese products represented by the 'old three' of textiles, furniture and home appliances have stabilized the global industrial and supply chain, lowered the living cost of global consumers and eased the inflationary pressure worldwide. China's green production capacity represented by the 'new three' of electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels has bridged the gap between supply and demand in global green development and bolstered the global energy transition and low-carbon development. Moreover, China's high-tech products represented by the 'new new three' of robots, AI and innovative drugs have broken high-tech barriers and monopoly and enabled people in more countries to access affordable new technologies," said the spokesman.
"Openness and cooperation bring about progress and win-win result. China's development has never been a 'threat' to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries. What really creates 'shocks' to the world has never been the innovation of Chinese companies and efficiency of Chinese industrial capacity, but protectionist moves of setting up barriers, decoupling and severing industrial and supply chains. China will stay committed to high-standard opening up, defend the multilateral trading system and provide more certainty and new impetus to the world economy with its own steady development," said Lin.
China's development never a threat: FM spokesman
