Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on the 6th that the fact that the festival is celebrated elsewhere around the world is a vivid example of mutual learning between different civilizations and how they flourish together. I wish people of all countries to share the joy of the Spring Festival and join hands to move forward to a happier and better tomorrow.

“The Spring Festival is a time for family reunion, seen by many as the ‘Chinese moment’ on every year’s calendar. It is also celebrated globally as a public holiday.” Said Wang Wenbin at the press conference, This year’s Spring Festival will be the first one since the UN General Assembly decided to list the Lunar New Year as a UN floating holiday. The Food and Agriculture Organization, the UN Office at Vienna and other organizations recently officially celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year for the first time. The Lunar New Year is a public holiday in more than 20 countries and celebrated in various forms by about one-fifth of people on Earth. From East to West, in both northern and southern hemispheres, countries around the world light up in Chinese red and people share the joyful atmosphere and feel the richness and vibrancy of the Chinese culture.

At the UN, diplomatic envoys experience Spring Festival traditions such as making dumplings, calligraphy and paper-cutting. The New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined thousands of overseas Chinese at the Chinese New Year Festival and Market Day in Auckland to welcome the Year of the Dragon. Belarus held the “Embracing the Chinese New Year” symphony concert with musicians from the two countries bringing the great enjoyment to the audience. Temple fairs were held in Heidelberg, Germany, which showcased traditional customs to tourists such as diabolo, Spring Festival couplets and writing the character Fu which means good fortune. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York organized an exhibition called “Celebrating the Year of Dragon”, which brought out dragon dance performance, woodblock printing and other brilliant activities. Lanterns hung high on the streets in Malaysia, and youngsters performed the impressive dragon dance with a dragon nearly 200 meters long. A grand celebration event was held on Marco Zero Square, a famous landmark of Recife in Brazil. A spectacular light show of twelve mascots of the Chinese Zodiac was staged and people sang and danced.

The Spring Festival embodies the traditions and values of harmony, love and peace in Chinese culture. The fact that the festival is celebrated elsewhere around the world is a vivid example of mutual learning between different civilizations and how they flourish together. We hope people everywhere will share the joy of the Spring Festival, feel the warmth of the coming spring, and together usher in an auspicious lunar new year.