Wang Xiaolong (8th R), Chinese ambassador to New Zealand, and representatives of overseas Chinese and overseas Chinese students pose for a group photo during the Spring Festival kits distribution ceremony in Wellington, New Zealand, Jan. 15, 2023. (Photo by Meng Tao/Xinhua)
WELLINGTON, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in New Zealand on Sunday hosted a Chinese movie event and Spring Festival kits distribution ceremony for overseas Chinese in the capital city of Wellington ahead of the lunar Chinese New Year.
Wang Xiaolong, the Chinese ambassador to New Zealand, distributed Spring Festival kits to representatives of overseas Chinese and overseas Chinese students in New Zealand and watched the Chinese movie Home Coming with them, sending delightful Chinese New Year wishes.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Spring Festival kits for the past several years consist mainly of personal protection products. But this year, the kits included festive cards, Spring Festival couplets, chopsticks, and festive plates, Wang said.
The heart-warming kits represented the best wishes and care to the overseas Chinese from their motherland and the people of their hometowns, said Wang.
He noted that for all overseas Chinese and Chinese diplomats in New Zealand, 2023 is a year of significant importance and will be the start of another half-century of the relationship between China and New Zealand, after the milestone of 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries based on significant progress in bilateral cooperations in all areas.
"It was a joy to receive the Spring Festival kit before the Chinese New Year," said Lesley Chu, president of the Wellington Chinese Women's Association. "A strong motherland is a great supporter of every overseas Chinese."
"We will do our best to fulfill our work in New Zealand. We will work together with the overseas Chinese in New Zealand and with New Zealand local communities ... to contribute further to the friendship between China and New Zealand," Chu said. ■
