The China Film Week 2025 opened in Yangon, Myanmar, on Sunday, gathering nearly 500 representatives from Myanmar's film, literature, education and media sectors as well as overseas Chinese communities in the Southeast Asian country.
The four-day event also marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relationship between China and Myanmar.
Myanmar's Union Minister for Information U Maung Maung Ohn said at the opening ceremony that Chinese films have been very popular in Myanmar and will help deepen mutual understanding between two peoples and bring them closer to each other.
The film week provides a good opportunity for the two countries to promote cooperation and development in the film industry and consolidate bilateral friendship, the minister added.
The event will see the screening of eight Chinese films including Wu Kong, a mythological story featuring Monkey King, a character familiar to Burmese audiences, and the historical war drama film The Eight Hundred.
"I grew up listening to stories about the Monkey King since I was a child, so I'm very happy to have the opportunity to attend the China Film Week, and I'm really interested in the Chinese culture and Chinese films," said a visitor.
"I think the film week will further deepen the friendship and mutual understanding between Chinese and Myanmar people," said another visitor.
China Film Week 2025 opens in Myanmar
Voting for the election of the eighth-term Legislative Council (LegCo) of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) concluded on Sunday night.
Voting for the election began at 07:30 a.m. local time on Sunday. More than 600 polling stations were opened across Hong Kong, serving approximately 4.13 million registered voters.
Long queues had already formed outside multiple polling stations across Hong Kong before the polls opened. At polling station entrances, staff and volunteers attentively assisted voters with the procedures. Some voters posed for a photo holding a thank-you card given by staff after casting their ballot.
"As a Hong Kong citizen, I think it's my responsibility to vote, and I don't want to give up my rights. That's why I come here to support," a voter said.
"We actually flew in from Thailand. Learning today is a special day to vote, we actually canceled all our appointments and canceled everything, and we flew in with the whole family just to be part of Hong Kong and to vote, and to cast our vote and be part of the community," said another voter.
HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee cast his ballot at around 08:30 a.m. at Raimondi College on Robinson Road. He said that the LegCo election is of great importance to Hong Kong's overall development and future reforms, and it also represents the expectations of Hong Kong society.
A number of voters said they look forward to the new term of the Legislative Council taking greater responsibility in advancing Hong Kong's economy, society, and public welfare.
"I think an area of focus I'd like to see is, one is the economy, and secondly is youth mobility and youth policies. I think youth are the future, and it's very important to get unity within the youth and also give us hope, right? The youth in general -- what can we do to, for us as youth, to partake in civil society and to show our responsibility, but also from the government, like, what kind of policy that can help us do that as well," said a young voter.
"I hope that there will be more fair education in the sense that even people from the poor family, they can actually receive good education in good schools," another voter said.
The new term of LegCo will be composed of 90 members, including 40 elected by the Election Committee, 30 elected by functional constituencies, and 20 elected by geographical constituencies through direct elections. The name list of the 40 members returned by the Election Committee has been unveiled.
The eighth-term LegCo of the HKSAR will commence its four-year term on Jan 1, 2026.
Voting for 8th-term HKSAR LegCo election concludes
Voting for 8th-term HKSAR LegCo election concludes
