Spring Festival celebration event held in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Spring Festival celebration event themed "Chinese New Year, China Pakistan Go Together," hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, was held here on Saturday evening.

Representatives from different sectors of Pakistani society, overseas Chinese, Chinese enterprises, and media attended the event.

Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong welcomed Pakistani friends to the embassy to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Horse together. He said that during this year's Spring Festival, going to China to celebrate the Chinese New Year has become a new trend among foreign friends. They enjoyed delicious food, beautiful scenery, and a wonderful time in China in tranquility, harmony, and joy.

Jiang hoped that the Pakistani friends could also spend a wonderful Chinese New Year at the Chinese Embassy and join hands to write a new chapter for China-Pakistan friendship.

On behalf of the Pakistani government, Pakistani Minister for Petroleum Ali Pervaiz Malik extended his Spring Festival greetings to the Chinese people, wishing Chinese friends and China's development success in the new year.

The guests enjoyed Chinese tea art, learned to make dumplings, and watched various performances on site. Mohammad Kamran, a student from the National University of Modern Languages of Pakistan, recited an ancient Chinese poem The Moon over the River on a Spring Night on the stage.

He said that making dumplings with his own hands during the Spring Festival was very exciting for him, hoping that the people of the two countries could strengthen exchanges and enhance friendship through their respective traditional festivals.■