Chinese community celebrates New Year festival in Lagos

China’s Consul-General in Lagos, Yan Yuqing, has said her country’s gross domestic product grew by five per cent in 2024, driving both qualitative economic development and reasonable quantitative growth.

This, she said, provided a strong momentum for global economic recovery and international development cooperation. Yuqing made this known at the 2025 Chinese New Year reception and “One World One Spring Huaxing Shines” Spring Festival gala on Saturday night in Lagos.

She said the spring festival was the most important traditional holiday in China, adding that it was not only a Chinese festival, but also for the whole world.

“From being listed as a UN floating holiday in 2023, to being added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2024, the spring festival has gradually become a cultural celebration shared by people worldwide.

“It has also become a cultural bond that strengthens mutual understanding and trust, and deepens people-to-people exchanges between China and Nigeria,” she said.

While recounting 2024’s successes, she said China’s economy overcame various difficulties and successfully achieved major goals. She recalled that during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s recent official visit to Nigeria, he stated that China-Nigeria bilateral relations had achieved three outstanding achievements.

According to her, these include a new leap in positioning of the relations, a new platform created through solidarity and collaboration, and a new height in international cooperation.