Colorful activities, such as temple fairs and light shows, have been held in cities across the world to welcome the Chinese New Year.
The Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival, falls on Wednesday this year, ushering in the Year of the Snake.
In Brussels, Belgium, the Chinese embassy held a Spring Festival fair at the Cinquantenaire Park on Saturday, displaying Chinese New Year paintings and staging Peking Opera performances.
Screens were also set up to play the China Media Group's promotional video for the 2025 Spring Festival Gala television broadcast, a major cultural symbol for Spring Festival celebrations in China.
"I'm very happy to be here to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The link between Belgium, Brussels and China are very important. So Happy New Year to all China and Chinese people," said Rudi Vervoort, minister-president of the Brussels-Capital Region.
The headquarters building of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome, Italy has been illuminated by red lights and decorations.
Senior officials at the organization and representatives from various member countries gathered at a reception in the building last Thursday to celebrate the festival and its inclusion on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
"I want to extend my warmest wishes on behalf of all of us at the Food and Agriculture Organization for this very special celebration," said Beth Bechdol, deputy director-general of FAO.
In Athens, Greece, the Municipal Theater of Piraeus has been decorated with red lanterns and Chinese knots.
Inside the theater, Chinese and Greek artists staged their respective classics, such as Kunqu Opera "The Legend of the White Snake" and Greek song "The Children of Piraeus".
In Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, the headquarters of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia has been turned in to a creative canvas to present a light show in celebration of the Chinese New Year.
At the city's Meskel Square, the promotional video of the 2025 Spring Festival Gala was played on giant screens to spread some New Year joy.
In Havana, Cuba, the first Spring Festival temple fair opened on Saturday, presenting dragon and lion dances and traditional Chinese costume shows.
The fair also featured a cultural exhibition, where Cuban people could experience calligraphy, paper cutting and tea art, and keep the works as New Year gifts.
In Sao Paulo, Brazil, a flash mob took to the streets with dragon and lion dances, folk songs and dances, and martial arts performances.
Colorful Chinese New Year celebrations held in cities around world
Foreign diplomats and scholars are looking closely at this year's "two sessions", saying China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) will not only chart the nation's economic and technological priorities but also reshape global value chains.
The fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the nation's top political advisory body, opened on Wednesday, followed by the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) on Thursday. Together known as the "two sessions," these meetings offer a comprehensive view into China's development priorities.
Global observers emphasized that the 15th Five-Year Plan, a blueprint guiding the nation's economic, social, and technological priorities over the next five years, marks a decisive shift toward high‑quality growth anchored in advanced technologies, with ripple effects across the world.
"The two sessions will discuss China's five-year plan, which is heavily oriented toward China's major technological development. I believe this is important because it represents the new blueprint for China's economy, which is now oriented toward the renowned high-quality development, and this will undoubtedly impact the entire world. I think it is worth studying. This is very important for Latin America. It will help us integrate more intelligently into global value chains and into all aspects of the major development that China is promoting in iconic industrial sectors, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and space development, where Latin America also has much to contribute beyond just commercial growth," said Gustavo Sabino Vaca Narvaja, former Argentine Ambassador to China.
"The two sessions are a major political milestone in China, and this year's gathering carries even greater significance as this year marks the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan. This plan represents not only a blueprint for China, but also a guide for other countries. Instruments like the five-year plan effectively provide greater certainty and predictability for the rest of the world," said Chilean scholar of international relations Ignacio Araya Heredia.
"This is a particularly important date, especially due to the fact that the next Five-Year Plan shall be positioned and we're going to see what its main elements shall be. Serbia, which has a very high degree of steel friendship with the People's Republic of China, can expect further assistance in identifying the most prominent areas of Serbian economy and being helped by its great partner, such as it has been done in the previous period, from one part with establishing the main infrastructure projects, but also reshaping the industrial sector of Serbia, not just Serbia, but the region as a whole," said Veljko Mijuskovic, assistant professor of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade.
Beyond the policy framework, experts also pointed to China's achievements in green energy and technological innovation as models worth emulating.
Tomasz Bielinski, adjunct professor at the University of Gdansk's Faculty of Economics, said the robotics displays at the 2026 China Media Group (CMG) Spring Festival Gala reflected China's broader push in technological innovation.
"I was really impressed about the robotics. I'm very impressed with Chinese development in the technological field, we can still make great deals with Chinese businessmen and we can cooperate together to use this technology for both the good of China and the European Union. I'm aware of the innovation especially in autonomous drive on the on the Chinese side," he said.
"We hope for more of China's economic cooperation, especially in trade and also in investment. Also, and the other focus, if I talk about the focus of the development, don't forget about the green energy. We know that China is great in the electric vehicle field. So because China's electric vehicles in Indonesia nowadays, since couple of years ago, are very, very popular," said Al Busyra Basnur, president of the Indonesia-China Friendship Association.
Observers see China's new five-year plan driving high-quality development, global tech shifts
