The 2025 Chinese Spring Festival, marking the beginning of a Chinese New Year, has brought vibrant celebrations and festive atmospheres to African countries.
In Nairobi, Kenya, outdoor screens broadcast the annual Spring Festival Gala on Tuesday, the eve of the Chinese New Year, captivating locals with its joyous atmosphere.
The gala, a cherished tradition for billions of Chinese families worldwide, holds a special significance for overseas Chinese communities and their sense of belonging.
"I wish our motherland continued prosperity. May our own life be more thriving and more prosperous," said Ren Yuan, an overseas Chinese.
In Bamako, the capital city of Mali, the Chinese Embassy recently hosted a festive gala at the Chinese-aid Bamako International Conference Center. The event brought together about 700 guests, including Malian government officials, Chinese Ambassador Chen Zhihong, members of the local Chinese community, and representatives from the embassies of some other countries.
The gala showcased a fusion of Chinese and Malian cultures, featuring a lion dance and martial arts performance by the Mali Martial Arts Association, alongside musical collaborations between musicians from both countries performing classics like the time-honored Chinese musical work of "Jasmine Flower."
In the Central African Republic, the Chinese Embassy hosted a reception where Prime Minister Felix Moloua conveyed warm wishes to the Chinese people on behalf of the nation. Around 100 representatives from various sectors, Chinese companies, and the Chinese community attended the event.
President of Central African Republic Faustin-Archange Touadera, along with government officials and representatives from the Chinese Embassy, visited China-invested businesses and affixed Spring Festival couplets to celebrate the Chinese New Year holiday together.
Chinese Spring Festival brings vibrant celebrations to African countries
China's expanding ties with the Global South have pushed trade growth far beyond the global average despite the tariff pressure from the U.S., according to experts.
"Whilst the Trump tariffs ultimately led to a significant drop-off in Chinese exports to the United States and vice versa, the trading relationships across much of the rest of the world continue to grow, and China's trading relationships across the Belt and Road Initiative countries, as well as with the Global South, more broadly speaking, has grown at rates far greater than global trade growth as a whole. And we see that evidenced by the latest data. When we break that down, we see that has been underpinned by the developments in high-technology products in particular, whether it's EVs, whether it's even in semiconductors, as well as photovoltaic panels, etc.," said Dr. Warwick Powell, an adjunct professor at the Queensland University of Technology, in a TV interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Thursday.
"And you've got to look at the places where the growth is taking place. Africa, I think, is a very interesting case in point, because the kinds of things that China has been exporting and expanding in terms of its exports are all about African economic development -- its machinery, its energy systems, its technology, and this really goes to delivering on China's broader strategic ambition as an emerging great power to be an enabling great power, supporting the development of its partners around the world," he added.
Qian Jun, executive dean of International School of Finance at Fudan University, attributed the trade growth to Chinese firms' endeavor to tap into key regions like ASEAN, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.
"The main increase of export comes from, as we have discussed, these new areas: The ASEAN economy -- southeast Asia remains the most important trading partner -- and also Latin America, the Middle East, and these [other such] new regions. So, the exporters of the Chinese companies are also very good at adjusting their destinies, their strategies, how to market their goods and services, so that the reliance on the U.S., for example, has gone down a lot," Qian said.
China's trade momentum increasingly powered by Global South: experts
