CMG hosts China-Italy film, music concert in Rome

A concert linking China's Spring Festival with the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games was staged in Rome on Thursday, drawing about 200 participants from different walks of life in Italy, along with Chinese institutions and overseas Chinese community.

China's Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year, is the country's most important holiday. It falls on February 17 this year, coinciding with the Winter Games from February 6 to 22.

Organized by China Media Group (CMG), the country's flagship broadcaster, and co-hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Italy, the event was part of the "Prelude to Spring Festival Gala: The World Watches the CMG Gala Together" global outreach series.

CMG President Shen Haixiong, Italian Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli, Italian Minister for Sport and Youth Andrea Abodi, mayor of Cortina d'Ampezzo Gianluca Lorenzi, delivered speeches via video link to mark the occasion.

Attendees said that the event highlighted the profound historical roots and cultural richness of China and Italy, and enabled the people of the two countries to understand each other and enhance friendship through cultural exchanges, injecting new vitality into the mutual learning between Chinese and Italian civilizations.

Italian musicians performed the main themes from several outstanding Chinese films released in 2025, including "Nanjing Photo Studio," "Fengshen II: The Battle of Xiqi," "Detective Chinatown 1900," and "Nobody," as well as soundtracks from classic Italian films such as "Cinema Paradiso," "Life Is Beautiful," "Romeo and Juliet," and "Marco Polo."

The concert culminated with a performance of "Until Dawn," the official anthem of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

The Spring Festival Gala, also known as "Chunwan" in Chinese, has been a major cultural symbol for the Chinese New Year celebrations in China since its debut in 1983, and has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the most-watched annual television program on the planet.

The gala, set to be aired on the Chinese New Year's Eve on Feb 16 this year, will combine traditional Chinese culture with modern stagecraft, as well as cross-cultural performances featuring international artists.

CMG hosts China-Italy film, music concert in Rome

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Saturday emphasized efforts to ensure transportation services during the Spring Festival travel rush, focus on workplace safety and social stability, and improve the quality of tourism services, ensuring people enjoy a happy and peaceful holiday.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection tour of the Ministry of Emergency Management.

Li visited the joint duty room at the emergency command headquarters, where he extended greetings to on-duty staff and learned about duty and standby arrangements during the Spring Festival holiday.

Li noted that the Spring Festival is a time for family reunions across the nation, stressing the need to improve emergency response plans. In the event of any major emergency, incidents must be reported promptly, responded to rapidly, and handled efficiently, he said.

Through the video system, he learned about the transportation and service guarantee measures for the holiday travel rush. He pointed out that the Spring Festival travel rush is a major test to evaluate the transportation service capabilities.

Efforts must be made to coordinate transport capacity, improve passenger services, help solve practical problems for travelers, and strengthen preparations and responses to hazardous weather, he said. Li heard briefings on safety prevention measures in key sectors, including mining, hazardous chemicals, firefighting, and major construction projects, emphasizing safety must always be of top priority.

He was also briefed on the tourism market and related work during the holiday period.

Chinese premier stresses safety in key sectors, services for Spring Festival travel rush