China Media Group (CMG) held a special "Prelude to the Spring Festival Gala" event in Nairobi on Wednesday, marking a key moment in the global celebration of Chinese New Year. The event, held at the UN office in Nairobi, attracted more than 300 participants, including officials, diplomats and cultural enthusiasts.
Shen Haixiong, Vice Minister of Public Affairs of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and President of the CMG, delivered a video message during the "Prelude to the Spring Festival Gala" event. In it, he highlighted the worldwide recognition and growing popularity of the Spring Festival.
Shen said about one-fifth of the world's population now celebrates Chinese New Year in various ways, and the festival was recently listed as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. CMG's Spring Festival Gala, which has been broadcast for 42 years, is the most-watched New Year's TV event in the world.
Shen also expressed his excitement for the upcoming gala, which will leverage CMG's technological innovations in 5G, 4K/8K and AI to bring an extraordinary cultural experience to audiences around the world. He said the gala has become an essential cultural "New Year's holiday" for more than 1.4 billion Chinese and a shared tradition for Chinese communities around the world.
In her speech, Zainab Hawa Bangura, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Director of the UN Office in Nairobi, praised the Spring Festival as a global cultural symbol and wished peace, prosperity and happiness to all those celebrating.
Guo Haiyan, Chinese Ambassador to Kenya, and Jane Makori, Deputy Director-General for Asia and the Pacific in Kenya's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Affairs, also delivered speeches celebrating the enduring bond between China and Kenya.
The event featured stunning performances, including a Shaolin kung fu performance by the famous Shaolin Monk Troupe from the Shaolin Temple in the central province of Henan, China. Traditional Chinese acrobatics such as plate spinning and bowl balancing, along with folk arts such as making dough figures, further enthralled the audience.
The "Prelude to the Spring Festival Gala" event in Kenya was widely covered by major media and digital platforms across Africa, where it was seen by more than 600 million people in countries such as Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria and Tanzania.
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