Chinese embassy in US celebrates 2025 Chinese New Year with panda-themed reception

The Chinese Embassy in the United States welcomed the 2025 Chinese New Year and the debut of the new giant pandas with a lively reception on Friday, attended by prominent figures and guests.

Over 600 guests from diverse backgrounds attended the reception, comprising Americans from all walks of life, foreign diplomats, overseas Chinese, representatives from Chinese-invested institutions, and students.

To coincide with the debut of the giant pandas, Bao Li and Qing Bao, at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington D.C., the Chinese Embassy organized a Panda Fun Fest as part of the reception, offering a unique and engaging experience for guests.

As part of the Panda Fun Fest, guests were treated to a special appearance by Brandie Smith, director of the Smithsonian's National Zoo, who shared her own experience and insights about the giant pandas, followed by a sharing session with panda enthusiasts.

The guests watched panda-themed exhibitions and videos, interacted with workers in panda costumes, tasted panda-shaped cuisine, and made Spring Festival handicrafts such as paper cuttings and lanterns.

"I came from another event, [where the pandas were] donated to the United States inside the zoo, so I'm very excited. I love pandas. They are very gentle animals," said one of the guests.

Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Xie Feng extended New Year greetings to the guests at the event.

"The Spring Festival marks a new start, coming with new hope. Let's together set out on a new journey, scale new heights, and secure great progress in China-U.S. relations from a new starting point," Xie said.

The guests also marveled at the "Dance of the Golden Snake" and "Movie Music from Kung Fu Panda", performed by the Washington Chinese Traditional Orchestra.

Chinese embassy in US celebrates 2025 Chinese New Year with panda-themed reception

Chinese embassy in US celebrates 2025 Chinese New Year with panda-themed reception

Chinese embassy in US celebrates 2025 Chinese New Year with panda-themed reception

Chinese embassy in US celebrates 2025 Chinese New Year with panda-themed reception

Chinese embassy in US celebrates 2025 Chinese New Year with panda-themed reception

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its global economic growth forecasts for 2026 to 3.1 percent in the World Economic Outlook (WEO) report published on Tuesday, while keeping its projection for 2027 at 3.2 percent.

This marks a deceleration from the estimated 3.4 percent growth achieved in 2025. Before the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, the bottom-up forecasts for global growth would have been 3.4 percent in 2026 and 3.2 percent in 2027.

The forecast incorporates the impact of the war and assumes that it will be limited in duration, intensity and scope, with disruptions fading by mid-2026.

Under the reference forecast, global headline inflation is expected to increase to 4.4 percent in 2026 and decline to 3.7 percent in 2027.

If the conflict and the ensuing spike in oil prices last longer, global economic growth in 2026 will fall to 2.5 percent, while global inflation will climb to 5.4 percent, according to the report.

In extreme cases, global economic growth in 2026 could drop to two percent, the report warned.

To be specific, the U.S. economy is projected to grow by 2.3 percent in 2026 and 2.1 percent in 2027, although higher trade barriers introduced since April 2025 are expected to continue to weigh on activity.

In the euro area, growth is projected to decline from 1.4 percent in 2025 to 1.1 percent in 2026 before edging up to 1.2 percent in 2027. The forecasts for 2026 and 2027 are each 0.2 percentage point lower than those compared in the January 2026 WEO Update.

The 2026 growth forecast for emerging market and developing economies is revised down by 0.3 percentage point, to 3.9 percent, while the outlook for advanced economies remains broadly unchanged. With risks still tilted to the downside since the January 2026 WEO Update, the IMF suggested a comprehensive policy package combining domestic measures with coordinated international actions to strengthen resilience and foster adaptability.

It also stated in the report that "trade restrictions play a limited role in correcting imbalances but can worsen output," and urged countries to cooperate and take coordinated actions to restore stability to international economic relations.

IMF lowers global growth forecast for 2026 to 3.1 pct