The China Media Group (CMG) launched a promotional event for the 2026 Spring Festival Gala at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on Friday.
The event was attended by approximately 300 people, including the UN deputy secretary-general and other representatives of UN agencies, permanent representatives and diplomats from various countries to the UN, as well as guests from the cultural, economic, and media sectors of China and the United States.
Attendees at the event noted that the Spring Festival, with a history spanning thousands of years, is a defining cultural symbol of Chinese civilization and a spiritual bond connecting Chinese communities worldwide. Today, nearly 20 countries and regions around the world recognize the Spring Festival as a public holiday, and about one-fifth of the global population celebrates the occasion in various forms.
As the world's most-watched annual cultural television program, the CMG Spring Festival Gala has been held for 43 consecutive years. It has become a "cultural family reunion dinner" for Chinese people at home and abroad, and a window for global audiences to appreciate traditional Chinese culture and witness the vitality of contemporary China.
Melissa Fleming, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, expressed appreciation for the long-standing support of the Chinese people for multilateralism. She emphasized that in an era marked by uncertainty, dialogue and cooperation remain essential to building a better world. Chinese media organizations, she said, play an important role in conveying the UN's mission and values to audiences in China and beyond.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed and other UN representatives said that the horse in the coming Year of the Horse symbolizes vitality, resilience and progress across many cultures, inspiring confidence in the pursuit of peace, dignity and shared prosperity.
The New York City Children's Chorus and the U.S. national youth wushu team also brought their performances.
With the participation of a robot, representatives from CMG's UN bureau and the New York Film Academy jointly launched the "2026 Global AI Film and Television Works Collection" initiative.
The event received extensive international coverage, with 1,527 mainstream media outlets from 60 countries and regions -- including the Associated Press, Yahoo Finance, Fox Broadcasting Company, Les Echos and Kyodo News -- reporting on the occasion.
The CMG has held the "Prelude to the Spring Festival Gala" event for three years in a row.
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 launches Spring Festival Gala promo event at UN headquarters
CMG launches Spring Festival Gala promo event at UN headquarters
South China's Guangdong Province is accelerating its transformation into an international medical tourism hub, positioning itself as a destination for patients worldwide seeking affordable, high-quality care.
The push follows a joint initiative announced in late March by nine Chinese government departments, including the Ministry of Commerce, aimed at boosting spending by foreign tourists and enhancing exports of tourism services as part of broader efforts to expand the country's service sector.
Every day, some of the most complex surgeries are performed here. Li Zilun, deputy director of the division of vascular surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat‑sen University, is among the doctors capable of carrying out these intricate procedures.
He recently completed surgery on a patient with an aortic aneurysm, a condition often described as a "time bomb" in the body’s main artery, increasingly common in aging societies around the globe. Li also specializes in highly difficult and pioneering procedures, including repairing leaks caused by failed grafts.
"This was a very challenging case. And then, we implanted the covered stent to eliminate the endoleak. Actually, the outcome was pretty good. The patient will be discharged today," said Li Zilun.
The ability to handle such complex cases -- combining international techniques with domestically produced devices -- is drawing patients from around the world to seek treatment. In addition, high safety standards and low costs are also major draws.
"Our government is encouraging innovation. So, lots of physicians -- including our vascular surgeons -- we are actively involved in the innovation that helps to increase the effectiveness and safety, and also bring down the cost," said Li.
This hospital is one of the first in Guangdong to be designated by the provincial health commission as a pilot site for building an international medical service hub.
The growing number of patients has pushed the hospital to explore new ways to transform every step -- from treatment to payment and everything in between -- into a seamless experience, reducing waiting times and delivering better care for patients.
"I think it's fast. When the patient come here for just about, I think, one week, you can solve the problem," said Xiao Haipeng, president of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.
The hospital is also deepening its international cooperation with top-tier medical institutions, including those at Harvard University.
"Not just for China, for the whole globe, we are facing health care challenges -- emerging infectious disease and chronic, lung infectious diseases, and also the aging population, also the shortage of healthcare workforce," said Xiao.
In response to these challenges, China is promoting its own solutions, including aggressive innovation in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven workflows, while stepping up research and development investment and global engagement along the way.
"In recent years, the innovation in Western medicine is dramatically growing. An example of my hospital -- in the past few years, we have 140 innovations and seven of them are international leading innovations," said Xiao.
As global demand for medical tourism grows, China is positioning itself as a new destination. Official data shows that the number of foreign patients in Guangdong increased by 20 percent last year. Among them, the growth in inpatient admissions was even faster, rising by 76 percent.
Guangdong fast-tracks pilot for int'l medical service hub
