The first major business community event of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) "China Year" was held from February 7 to 9 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Sponsored by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the Chinese business delegation chaired the first meeting of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) for 2026, bringing together more than 200 representatives and experts from all 21 APEC economies.
During the meeting, business leaders from across the Asia-Pacific exchanged views on four key areas: regional economic integration, sustainable development, digital innovation, and connectivity.
Participants put forward a number of constructive proposals, agreed on "openness, connectivity and coordination" as the theme for the year, and held dialogs with APEC senior officials to further strengthen communication and coordination between the business community and government bodies.
Chinese representatives called on stronger support for building the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific and urged deeper cooperation and experience sharing in frontier areas such as artificial intelligence plus.
They also put forward specific initiatives on green energy transition, sustainable agricultural development, cross-border payment facilitation, and people-to-people exchanges.
These proposals were seen as actively guiding regional cooperation and received broad support from participants.
According to the schedule, the remaining three APEC Business Advisory Council meetings this year will be held in Mexico City in Mexico, Bangkok in Thailand, and Shenzhen of China.
The final outcomes will be submitted to the APEC Economic Leaders' Informal Meeting, which is set to take place in China in November.
APEC China Year opens with first business event in Indonesia
The promotional video of China Media Group (CMG)'s 2026 Spring Festival Gala was screened at the annual Chinese New Year gala held by the Chinese Students and Scholars Association UK (CSSAUK) in London on Thursday evening.
Chinese ambassador to Britain Zheng Zeguang attended the event and sent warm greetings to the Chinese students and scholars in the country.
Addressing the event, Zheng encouraged the students to pursue their studies to serve China, striving to contribute to the Chinese modernization, promote Chinese culture, and advance China-Britain friendship.
The Spring Festival Gala promotional video captivated the attention of the guests at the event with its compelling performance, vividly displaying the cultural essence of the Chinese New Year and the vitality of China.
Many attendees said that the video offered an opportunity for them to gain a deeper understanding of the cultural heritage and festive atmosphere embodied by the Spring Festival.
"I know that it [the Spring Festival] has to do with preparing lots of food and going to see family and friends. And it goes on for about two weeks, people traveling all over and because they really do want to go home and see their family and friends," said Ronald Anderson, Emeritus Professor of Finance at London School of Economics and Political Science.
"It's incredible. [With] the fact that you can see so many of the different ethnicities and they've all prepared their own little parts with such complexity, I was truly in awe," said Lucy, student at University College London.
The Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year, is the most important traditional holiday for the Chinese people, and watching the Spring Festival Gala on television is a cherished part of the celebrations in hundreds of millions of Chinese homes.
This year's Spring Festival Gala will be broadcast live around the world on the Chinese New Year's Eve on February 16.
CMG Spring Festival gala promo screened in UK
