Good evening! And thank you for joining us at tonight’s celebration!

In just a few days’time, we will celebrate the Lunar New Year of the Snake.

In 2023, the Lunar New Year officially joined the UN holiday calendar, and became a festival for the entire UN family. It’s such a great pleasure to have so many friends here to mark this joyous occasion at the UN Headquarters. 

The Lunar New Year, or as we call it, the Spring Festival, is the most important traditional festival in China. Over time, the Festival has transcended borders, and become a global celebration enjoyed by different communities around the world.

In recognition of its worldwide cultural significance, recently, China’s Spring Festival was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This has, once again, brought this time-honored tradition into the global spotlight.

As the New Year approaches, the festive atmosphere is already palpable across China, with beautiful lanterns decorated, spring couplets pasted, firecrackers lighted, family dinners prepared, and best wishes exchanged between families and friends.

While we cannot bring you to China to experience these traditions in situ, we have brought some of them here to you. Tonight, we are joined by dear friends from the Prince Kung’s Palace Museum, who have traveled all the way from Beijing. They have not only brought the beautiful decorations around us, but also exhibitions of Chinese folk art like calligraphy, knotting, paper cutting, and sachets.

Speaking of the Museum, it’s most famous for its diverse collection of the Chinese character 福. The most iconic one was written by Emperor Kangxi and carved on a huge stone slab. It’s a must-see if you have the chance to visit Beijing.

This 福, as you can see next to me, means good fortune and blessing.

Fu is the most fitting character for tonight’s celebration. During the festive season, you can find it almost everywhere in China, conveying people’s hope for good fortune and best wishes for the new year.

Here, I’d like to share with you my three wishes:

My first wish is for peace. Peace is humanity’s shared aspiration, common interest, and collective responsibility. Yet as we gather here to celebrate the Lunar New Year, there are parts of the world where people are still suffering from the scourge of war.

It is my sincere hope that around the world, guns will be silenced, wars will cease, and peace will prevail.

My second wish is for prosperity. Development is our constant pursuit and the key to realizing fairness and justice. China has made significant strides in eradicating poverty, and continues to pursue high-quality development to improve the lives of our people. We are also committed to making our contribution to global development, and to the solidarity and rejuvenation of the Global South.

It is my sincere hope that we, the international community, will join forces for common development, and that the prosperity can be shared by people of all countries.

My third wish is for harmony. To tackle the myriad challenges facing today’s world, we should look to the diversity of human civilizations for inspiration and strength. The Chinese philosophy values harmony without uniformity, and beauty within diversity.   China is committed to fostering friendship with countries around the world, so that we can make progress together through dialogue and mutual learning.

It is my sincere hope that we can rise above our differences—whether in history, culture, or social systems—and work together to build a harmonious future for all.

Dear Friends,

With these best wishes, we will soon step into the Year of the Snake. In the Chinese culture, the snake symbolizes wisdom, adaptability, and renewal.

As we mark the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations this year, as we come to a crossroads for the future of global governance, let us draw inspirations from the snake. May we be adaptable and patient, and revitalize our collective efforts for global peace and development. 

In closing, on behalf of all my colleagues at the Chinese Mission,I wish you all good health, happiness, and prosperity in the New Year of the Snake.

And please allow me to send my best wishes to my country and to my compatriots in my mother tongue: 

我代表常驻联合国代表团给全国人民拜年！祝福伟大祖国繁荣昌盛、国泰民安！祝福全国人民吉祥如意、幸福安康！ 

Thank you!