CMG's Spring Festival Gala promotional video screened across world

China

CMG's Spring Festival Gala promotional video screened across world

2025-01-26 17:14 Last Updated At：01-27 00:27

Multilingual version of the promotional video of the 2025 Spring Festival Gala, an hours long television extravaganza presented by state-run broadcaster China Media Group (CMG), was screened at Lunar New Year receptions hosted by Chinese embassies around the world.

The Spring Festival Gala, also known as "Chunwan" in Chinese, has been held since 1983 and aired live on Chinese New Year's Eve, which falls on Jan 28 this year. The television program has become a fixture for many Chinese households as part of the country's largest annual holiday celebrations.

The promotional video of the gala was put on at the reception in celebration of the Chinese New Year hosted by the Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom in London on Friday, adding to the festive atmosphere.

More than 400 people attended the reception at a banquet hall lit up with Chinese traditional festive decorations and snake elements – as the upcoming lunar new year heralds the Year of the Snake according to the Chinese zodiac.

The Chinese Embassy in Brazil on Thursday hosted its annual Spring Festival reception, attended by over 300 guests, including representatives of local Chinese community, Chinese institutions, media, teachers and students.

In addition to the promotional video of the Spring Festival Gala, the trailer of 2025 Spring Festival Chinese Opera Gala - another artistic feast showcasing the rich tapestry of China's vibrant operatic heritage produced by CMG - was also screened.

The jubilant reception reviewed the achievements of China-Brazil relations in the past year and treated the guests with colorful performances and typical Chinese delicacies for New Year celebrations.

On the same day, the Chinese Embassy in Kazakhstan also held the annual reception. The display of the promotional video of the Spring Festival Gala, as well as the performances by the diplomatic staff and representatives of guests, further heightened people's anticipation for the much-anticipated traditional Chinese festival.

The Chinese Embassy in South Africa held 2025 Spring Festival reception in Pretoria, the country's administrative capital, on Wednesday, bringing together more than 600 people from all walks of life, representatives of Chinese-funded institutions and overseas Chinese in the country to share the vibrant mood.

The appearance of the promotional video for Spring Festival Gala showcased the diverse traditions and advancements of the millennium-old festival, which aroused a strong homesickness of the local Chinese community, according to the attendees.

The event also saw a variety of artistic performances, including face-changing opera, dancing, chorus and traditional lion and dragon dances.

Canadian PM's visit to China paves way for more pragmatic trade ties: scholar

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's official visit to China signals a policy shift towards building a more pragmatic relationship between the two countries, according to a Canadian researcher.

Carney arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to begin an official visit to China through Saturday, which marks the first trip by a Canadian Prime Minister to the country in eight years.

Robert Hanlon, director and principal investigator of Canada and the Asia Pacific Policy Project (CAPPP) at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, told the China Global Television Network (CGTN) that Carney's visit indicates Canada is recalibrating its strategic perception of China, which could cement the foundation for the country's economic diversification efforts and boost the development of bilateral cooperation.

"I think it's a clear message that he has moved Canada's strategy to a much more pragmatic, interest-based, -focused relationship with our trading partners, moving away from values-based narratives that we might have heard on previous governments. Canada has spoken about moving from what the Prime Minister's Office is calling "from reliance to resilience", and that means diversifying our economies and our trade everywhere in the world. And so China being our second largest trading partner, it makes perfect sense for our PM to head to Beijing," he said.

The scholar also noted the huge cooperation potential between the two sides in economic and trade fields, citing Canada's efforts to step up shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the planned construction of an oil pipeline in Alberta which aims to increase export access to Asian markets. "Canada and China both share tremendous economic opportunities together and so finding ways to enhance our exports. Canada specifically looking to build out its LNG and oil, kind of export market. We know Canada is a major producer of critical minerals and China is a buyer. And so there's a lot of synergy between that kind of those kind of markets," he said.