Happy Chinese New Year! 新年快乐! President Xi Jinping Delivers New Chinese Year Speech Says China Neither Has Aggresion Gene In Its Blood Nor Seeks Hegemony Over Others

By: Olufemi Orunsola 

As the People’s Republic of China marks the Spring Festival, ushering in a new Lunar Year, President Xi Jinping has congratulated all chinese nationals across the globe in a New Year speech delivered Monday evening on the eve of the Chinese year 2019.

OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News reports as gathered from monitored international media sources that 

President Xi Jinping addressed his New Year's message to people in China and around the world, reviewing the country's achievements in 2018 and extending New Year wishes for 2019.

OTN News further reports that the Chinese leader maintained that "China will continue to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind in the new year while remaining resolute and confident in the defence of its national sovereignty and security."

"China's sincerity and goodwill to safeguard world peace and promote common development will remain unchanged, he said, stressing that the Chinese nation has no gene in its blood for aggression against others or seeking hegemony over others. 

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, sent his best wishes on the occasion of the Spring Festival, which heralds the Chinese New Year 2019. 

The UN Chief, in a dedicated broadcast monitored by OTN News, started by speaking in the chinese language to identify with China and all Chinese nationals across the world.

"Chun jie kuai le!" (Happy Lunar New Year!) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday extended Lunar New Year greetings to the Chinese people in the Chinese language, and thanked China for its strong support for multilateralism and global solidarity", he said.

Guterres who celebrated the Year of the Horse, highlighting its symbolism of energy, success, and courage thanked China for its commitment to multilateralism and global solidarity, urging joint efforts to address conflicts, inequality, and the climate crisis, while wishing for peace and prosperity. 

In his words, "As we welcome the Year of the Horse, we celebrate a symbol of energy, success, and the courage to forge ahead — qualities our world urgently needs as we confront conflict, inequality, and the climate crisis."

This season of renewal reminds us that, together, we can build a safer, more inclusive future.

Let us continue to advance our shared commitment to peace, dignity, and sustainable development for all.

May the spirit of the horse bring you health, happiness and prosperity."

OTN News observes that while most of the world organizes time through a solar year—the cycle created by Earth’s orbit around the sun, but China observes the lunar year system which has long existed before modern calendars standardized dates used by modern societies to measure passing months by the moon, tracking its phases to mark time.

Although China still observes the solar year too, with January 1 remaining its modern public marker of "New Year"—but Chinese New Year celebrates the Lunar New Year.

Lunar New Year is, at its core, the first day of that lunar calendar cycle.

While it is commonly referred to as "Chinese New Year," the holiday is celebrated well beyond China, including across Asia and in diaspora communities worldwide—one reason it is often described more broadly as Lunar New Year. It is also widely considered among the most-important holidays in Chinese culture.

The 2026, Lunar New Year, often called Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival, begins on February 17, launching 15 days of celebrations that culminate with the Lantern Festival on the first full moon of the new lunar year.

This year also ushers in the Year of the Fire Horse, one of the Chinese zodiac’s most-distinctive animals, shaping the themes and symbolism many people look to as the holiday season begins.

The celebration runs for 15 days, moving from New Year’s Eve gatherings through to the Lantern Festival, when illuminated lanterns mark the closing night. Over that arc, the holiday’s through-line is unmistakable: renewal—a symbolic clearing out of old misfortune and an invitation to better luck and fresh fortune.