China embassies in Brazil, Argentina hold Spring Festival receptions

China

China embassies in Brazil, Argentina hold Spring Festival receptions

2026-02-07 17:05 Last Updated At：19:17

China's embassies in Brazil and Argentina this week hosted receptions to welcome the Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, drawing hundreds of guests from local political, business and cultural circles as well as overseas Chinese communities.

The Spring Festival, which falls on Feb 17 this year, is one of the most important holidays in China, celebrated with family reunions and wishes for good luck in the coming year. This year's Spring Festival marks the beginning of the Year of the Horse.

Watching the Spring Festival Gala on television is a cherished part of the celebrations in hundreds of millions of Chinese homes. The gala will be broadcast live around the world on the Chinese New Year's Eve on February 16.

In Brasilia, capital of Brazil, more than 300 attendees joined the Chinese embassy's celebration on Wednesday, which featured traditional festivities and cultural displays. A promotional video of China Media Group (CMG) annual Spring Festival Gala was shown on large screens, sparking lively reactions among guests.

Maria Gomes, a former adviser to the World Health Organization and Brazil's Ministry of Health, said the promotional video gave her a vivid impression of the scale and vibrancy of Chinese New Year celebrations.

"Brazilians love to start a new year with a festival that represents good fortune and joy, like the Spring Festival. We're very excited to be living in a period of very great friendship between Brazil and China. I want to wish all the Chinese people, including children, parents, and the elderly, a beautiful year in the Year of the Horse, a year of prosperity, luck, and a lot of family harmony," she said.

On Tuesday, the Chinese embassy in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, held a similar event to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Overseas Chinese, representatives of Chinese companies, media, Confucius Institutes and students gathered to mark the Year of the Horse.

A promotional video of the CMG Spring Festival Gala was shown as part of the cultural event, highlighting China's cultural confidence and helping strengthen ties among overseas Chinese.

Iran launches new attacks as US claims Kharg Island strike, Israel says two Iranian military officials killed

Iran launched a new round of attacks as the United States and Israel continued striking multiple key targets across the country on Saturday.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Saturday afternoon it had launched the 49th round of Operation True Promise-4, targeting three U.S. military bases in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait with heavy missiles and drones.

Earlier that day, Iran launched the 47th and 48th rounds of the operation, striking Israeli sites and U.S. military bases across the region.

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said Saturday that the U.S. military carried out large-scale strikes on Iran's Kharg Island on Friday, adding that more than 90 military targets on the island were "successfully struck".

The strike destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers, and multiple other military sites, while oil infrastructures were preserved, according to the CENTCOM statement.

Iran's Mehr News Agency reported Saturday that the situation on Kharg Island had been brought under control, adding that the island’s air defense system was restarted shortly after the strike and that the attackers failed to achieve their intended objectives.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that two senior officials of the Khatam al-Anbiya Emergency Command, Abdollah Jalali-Nasab and Amir Shariat, were killed in an airstrike on Tehran on Friday.

Israel also said that its air force had struck more than 200 infrastructure sites across western and central Iran in the past day, targeting dozens of ballistic missile launchers, including some loaded and ready to fire, as well as air defense systems, launch pads and weapons storage facilities.