China has named Ambassador Yan Wenbin as the special representative and national coordinator to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
"The SCO is the world's largest regional organization. Since its establishment in 2001, member states have upheld the 'Shanghai Spirit' and successfully explored a new path for the development of international organizations. China, in the capacity of the country holding the rotating chairmanship of the SCO last year, hosted the SCO summit in Tianjin, where President Xi Jinping and other leaders reached key consensus on strengthening multilateral cooperation, improving the SCO mechanism, and advancing a more just and equitable global governance system. This guides the SCO into a new stage of high-quality development," said Mao Ming, the spokeswoman, at a press conference in Beijing.
"The special representative and national coordinator of the Chinese government to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an important position created to deepen China's exchanges and cooperation with other SCO member states. Ambassador Yan Wenbin, who has extensive experience and is familiar with SCO affairs, is expected to actively fulfill his duties, maintain close communication with national coordinators of other member states, and well implement leaders' consensus, in efforts to strengthen the organization's development and cooperation, promote regional security and stability as well as development and prosperity, and contribute to building a closer SCO community of shared future," Mao said.
China names new special representative and national coordinator to SCO: spokeswoman
China names new special representative and national coordinator to SCO: spokeswoman
More than a month ahead of the Chinese New Year, restaurants across China have reported a booming demand for reunion dinners, with popular places already fully reserved.
The family reunion dinners on the eve of the Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival, is the most important meal of the year for Chinese people. It has long been an essential part of celebrating the Chinese New Year. This year, the festival falls on Feb 17.
In Taiyuan, capital city of north China's Shanxi Province, one restaurant said all tables for the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner have been reserved.
"We now have 36 private rooms and 13 tables in the hall. The New Year's Eve dinner is fully booked. Many families started reserving as early as November 2025," said Han Huiyan, a restaurant manager.
To meet the demand, many restaurants start to offer takeaway banquet package that can be easily prepared at home, allowing families to enjoy a variety of festive dishes without dining out.
In Ningbo, a city in east China's Zhejiang Province, many popular restaurants said that they are approaching full reservation levels. To reduce peak demand, some restaurants now offer off-peak reunion dinners starting later at night.
"We now offer a 'second round' of New Year's Eve dinners, which start at 19:30. We also offer discount for such New Year's Eve dinners, a promotion of 20 percent off set menus," said Sun Lijuan, a restaurant manager.
In Lianyungang, a city in east China's Jiangsu Province, smaller private rooms of a local restaurant have been nearly sold out, and customized menus and home-delivery services have drawn strong interest.
"This year we have specially launched the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner delivery service. Bookings are very strong and customers really like this option," said Geng Maoran, a restaurant general manager.
Restaurants see surge in bookings for Chinese New Year's Eve dinners
