Recently, Consul General Fang Xinwen, accompanied by his wife Zeng Hui, Deputy Consul General Liu Dongyuan and Chen Xiaodong, and other diplomats, attended a series of cultural celebrations marking the 2025 Year of the Snake Chinese New Year in Victoria. These events included A Round Square Banquet, a contemporary art exhibition presented by the Australia China Art Foundation, Celebrate Together: 2025 Lunar New Year Gala, the Hong Kong String Orchestra Lunar New Year Concert, the 2025 Melbourne Children’s Spring Festival Gala, and the Dunhuang Fusion Arts Spring Festival Gala. Australian federal MPs Carina Garland and Keith Wolahan, Victorian MPs Nicole Werner and Will Fowles, and Lord Mayor of Melbourne Nicholas Reece were among the distinguished guests at these events.

Consul General Fang and other consulate officials extended warm Chinese New Year greetings to Victorian cultural community. He highlighted that Chinese New Year is not only a cherished festival for the Chinese people but has also become an integral part of Australia’s multicultural society. Notably, this year’s celebrations hold special significance as it marks the first year since the Chinese Spring Festival was successfully inscribed as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity of UNESCO. He expressed his delight in witnessing such a diverse and dynamic array of festivities across Victoria and hoped these events would serve as a bridge to showcase the richness of Chinese culture, deepen China-Australia cultural exchanges, and strengthen the bonds of mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of both nations.