Chinese consulate celebrates New Year, Spring Festival in Lagos
“Together, we will build a high-level China-Nigeria community with a shared future.”
Yan Yuqing, China’s Consul-General in Lagos, says her country’s gross domestic product grew by 5 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.
Ms 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.
“Looking back at the past year, China-Nigeria cooperation across various fields, including infrastructure, trade, investment and technology, has yielded fruitful results.
“The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure landmark projects undertaken by Chinese enterprises such as CCECC, China Harbor Engineering Company, have provided a strong basis for Nigeria’s economic development.
“Chinese trade fairs such as the Canton Fair, China International Import Expo, China International Fair for Trade in Services, and China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, along with various expos jointly organised by China and Nigeria, have served as important platforms for bilateral trade cooperations.
“I am delighted to see that made in Nigeria has become a vivid illustration of China-Nigeria manufacturing cooperation,” she said.
She noted that in 2024, the consulate, in collaboration with the Chinese community in Nigeria, businesses and academic circles launched the “Renewed Hope, Rebirth from the Light” charity project to assist cataract sufferers, helping over 300 individuals to regain their sight.
The consul-general also announced the official launch of the “Together Fight Against Hunger” charity project to finance low-income groups in Nigeria in 2025.
She said this would contribute to China’s efforts toward Nigeria’s poverty alleviation and hunger reduction campaigns.
Ms Yuqing said that, in 2025, China would successfully complete its 14th Five-Year Plan and stand with Nigeria to actively implement outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit and the important consensus reached during the meeting.
“We will align the BRI and the Ten Partnership Action Plans with Nigeria’s renewed hope agenda priority areas, comprehensively deepening cooperation in various fields to bring more benefits to both countries and peoples.
“Together, we will build a high-level China-Nigeria community with a shared future and embrace an even brighter future for the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership,” Yuqing said.
(NAN)
