Chinese embassies and a Chinese consulate general have hosted the 2026 Spring Festival receptions this week to welcome the Year of the Horse.
The Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year, falls on Feb 17 this year.
The reception hosted by the Chinese Embassy in the United States on Feb 10 in Washington presented performances such as lion dance and displayed a promotional video of China Media Group (CMG) 2026 Spring Festival Gala.
Sean Stein, president of the U.S.-China Business Council, said that the spirit of the Year of the Horse represents an auspicious wish that the U.S.-China relations will gallop forward in the new year.
"What I hope it means is that U.S. and China relations will rapidly gallop forward with strength and we will be in a much better place at the end of the Year of the Horse, because the relationship will progress very far than we were at the beginning," said Stein.
On Feb 9, the Chinese Embassy in Italy and the Permanent Mission of China to the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture jointly hosted a reception in Rome.
The event featured Chinese intangible cultural heritage, and the attendees had the opportunity to interact with robot dogs.
"China is not only achieving modernization but also leading the future. It keeps making progress in the fields of technology and economy," said former Italian Economy and Finance Minister Giovanni Tria.
The reception hosted by the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines on Feb 10 in the capital Manila gathered both Chinese and Philippine representatives, with the attendees hoping that the bilateral ties will achieve healthy and stable development in the new year.
The Chinese Embassy in Senegal hosted the Spring Festival reception on Feb 9 in Dakar, involving participants in cultural activities and offering them delicious Chinese food and spectacular martial arts performances.
The 2026 Spring Festival reception hosted by the Chinese Consulate General in New York on Feb 10 in New York City presented a concert and showcased Chinese intangible cultural heritage.
Videos promoting the CMG 2026 Spring Festival Gala and film-themed travels to China were also played at the reception, with attendees speaking highly of China's development model.
"Its economic policies are based on the general welfare of the population and the success is the success they are sharing, very importantly, with nations throughout Africa and Latin America," said Richard Black, a researcher at the Schiller Institute.
On the same day, the Chinese Consulate General in New York also held a Spring Festival celebration jointly with the Empire State Building, unveiling the Chinese New Year of Horse-themed window display.
Chinese embassies, consulate general host 2026 Spring Festival receptions
