On February 21, Deputy Consul General Cheng Hongbo attended and delivered remarks at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Chinese New Year celebrations hosted by Toronto Chinatown Business Improvement Area (BIA). Representatives from all three levels of government in Canada, leaders of the local Chinese community, and thousands of people from diverse ethnic backgrounds were present at the event.

Deputy Consul General Cheng extended Chinese New Year greetings for the Year of the Horse to overseas Chinese in the consular district and friends from various sectors. He noted that the Spring Festival is the most important traditional holiday of the Chinese nation, symbolizing harmony and family reunion as well as bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new. Not long ago, Prime Minister Mark Carney paid a successful visit to China, ushering the bilateral relations into a new era of building a new strategic partnership. Standing at a new starting point in China-Canada relations, the two countries will move forward together in the new year, jointly responding to a complex environment and overcoming difficulties and challenges, so as to bring about a brighter future for both countries and their peoples. It’s hoped that overseas Chinese in the consular district will continue to carry forward and preserve the cultural roots of the Chinese nation, while seizing the current positive opportunity to actively contribute to the sustained improvement and development of China–Canada relations.

Canadian dignitaries in attendance said they were encouraged and inspired by the recent positive progress in China–Canada relations. They spoke highly of the important role overseas Chinese and the Chinese community had played in promoting the development of Canada’s multicultural society, and expressed their continued support for the growth and development of the Chinese community.