On April 20, the Second Chinese Language Day celebrations were held at the UN Headquarters in New York. More than 150 people, including Mr. Kiyotaka  Akasaka, UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Ambassador Li Baodong, Permanent Representative of China to the UN and his wife Madam Lu Hailin, Mr. Peng Keyu, Chinese Consul-General in New York, foreign envoys to the UN, and staff of the UN Secretariat attended the event.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Li Baodong said that, Chinese characters and the Chinese language have played an invaluable role as a carrier in bringing the best of the Chinese culture to the whole world. Today, we see more and more exchanges between China and other countries and among their peoples. A growing number of Chinese are learning foreign languages, and the enthusiasm of people from other countries about the Chinese language is also on the rise. Learning and understanding each other's language no doubt contributes to the exchanges and integration of different civilizations, and will go a long way toward promoting world peace, cooperation and prosperity. Chinese Language Day celebrations have opened a new window of opportunity and provided a new platform for people to learn more about the Chinese language and its culture. Ambassador Li also wished all those who are learning Chinese new progress with each passing day, and this year's celebrations a complete success.

(Photograph: Bai Jie/Xinhua News Agency)

Under-Secretary-General Akasaka said that the Chinese language is one of the most ancient and widely spoken languages in the world and one of the official languages of the UN. He was pleased to see the Language Day celebrations in the UN system drawing so much attention. He said that the first Chinese Language Day celebrated last year was a great success and commended that this year's program was even more ambitious.  

Consul-General Peng Keyu donated a multimedia Chinese language learning platform to the UN Chinese Language Program on behalf of the Council of Chinese Language International. On behalf of the Chinese Language School of the Chinese Mission to the UN, Madam Lu Hailin accepted some student dictionaries from Henan Education Publishing House. New York Xinhua Book Store also donated books to the UN Chinese Book Club.

(Photograph: Sun Yuting/China News Agency)

An exhibition of Chinese calligraphy and painting was also launched during the ceremony. Activities of the Chinese Language Day celebrations also included a lecture on Chinese calligraphy, traditional Chinese music performance, dancing in the Han and Tang dynasties, and Chinese Kongfu performance.