CMG Spring Festival Gala broadcast live in Dubai's cinema as China celebrates Year of Snake

The 2025 Spring Festival Gala hosted and aired by the China Media Group (CMG) had been broadcast live in a cinema in one of the world's biggest shopping center Dubai Mall on Chinese New Year's Eve.

Themed "Year of the Snake, Keep Your Spirit Awake," the hours-long television extravaganza featured a dazzling array of singing and dancing, opera, comedy sketches, martial arts and other performances, offering an audiovisual feast to viewers tuning in from around the world.

The main logo, mascot, and promotional video of the 2025 Spring Festival Gala illuminated the electronic screens of various sizes in the cinema, adding a joyful and festive atmosphere to the entire theater. The largest theater, which can accommodate 300 people, was completely full.

At the same time, a series of traditional folk activities, including traditional Chinese dragon and lion dances as well as the magical face-changing in Sichuan Opera, were held in the cinema.

"This year marks the 12th Spring Festival we have celebrated in Dubai, and it is the first time we are watching the CMG's Spring Festival Gala on a big screen," said Yu Fangfang, an overseas Chinese in Dubai.

"Last year, we watched the Spring Festival Gala at home, but this year my mom brought me to the cinema. Watching the gala on such a big screen makes me feel particularly impressed," said Wang Lechen, another overseas Chinese in Dubai.

"I think that the Spring Festival Gala fills the void of celebrating the Chinese New Year alone in a foreign land with a sense of ritual for me. Celebrating the Spring Festival alone overseas can be very lonely for me, but sitting in the cinema with compatriots makes me feel warm at heart. In addition, I think the Spring Festival Gala is actually a window for me. I feel very proud because it is not just a simple performance. It contains more Chinese aesthetics and cultural connotations," said Qi Xinyuan, a Chinese student in Dubai.

The gala, also known as "Chunwan," was first broadcast back in 1983 and is seen as a major cultural symbol for the traditional Spring Festival celebrations in China.

The Spring Festival, or the start of a Chinese New Year, fell on Jan 29 this year, ushering in the Year of the Snake.

CMG Spring Festival Gala broadcast live in Dubai's cinema as China celebrates Year of Snake

CMG Spring Festival Gala broadcast live in Dubai's cinema as China celebrates Year of Snake

The 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting concluded in east China's Suzhou on Saturday, yielding fruitful results and laying significant groundwork for the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November.

The trade ministers' meeting focused on "building an open and predictable regional and multilateral economic and trade order" and "fostering new engines of innovative and dynamic trade and investment cooperation."

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao briefed the media on the meeting's outcomes at a press conference.

Wang said the meeting issued a joint statement titled the Suzhou Statement, and approved the latest edition of the APEC Roadmap for Innovative, Competitive and Resilient Services.

All parties agreed to advance policy innovation and reform in services trade, build an open and predictable investment environment, improve regional trade facilitation and supply chain resilience, strengthen standards coordination, and enhance intellectual property protection, Wang told the media.

He also said that substantial progress was made on a framework document for regional digital trade cooperation and the ministers emphasized promoting inclusive AI development, strengthening AI-related trade, and bridging the digital divide to ensure shared benefits from digital transformation.

The minister noted that the outcomes of the meeting demonstrated strong cooperation willingness, highlighted an innovation-oriented approach, and reflected inclusiveness and shared benefits. "The fact that Asia-Pacific economies can come together, uphold the original aspiration of promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation while supporting economic growth and prosperity, and engage in in-depth discussions on the important issue of 'where multilateral and regional economic and trade cooperation is headed,' fully demonstrates that open regionalism and true multilateralism enjoy broad support, and that mutual success and shared development serve the fundamental interests of all economies," Wang said.

2026 APEC trade ministers' meeting concludes with fruitful results