New York City's diverse leadership celebrates New Year

New York City's diverse leadership gathered on Sunday at the Chinese Consulate General for its New Year Open Day in a celebration of cultural exchange.

"The outgoing 2023 is a turbulent yet transformative year. Changes of the world, of our times, and of historical significance are unfolding like never before," said Chinese Acting Consul General in New York Qian Jin.

"Yet the overall direction of human development and progress will not change, and the overall trend toward a shared future for the international community will not change," he said.

For China-US relations, Qian said it's a year of "recovery and resilience". "Despite the twists and turns in our relations throughout the year, the historic San Francisco summit concluded successfully last month," said Qian.

"With hindsight, we can conclude that dialogue is better than confrontation, cooperation is better than decoupling, and stability is better than flip-flopping. This should be a consensus as well as the shared responsibility of the two sides," he emphasized.

Qian noted that 2024 marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the US.

"As we gather together today to celebrate the dawning of the new year, let's build on the positive momentum of the San Francisco summit and join hands to build a community with a shared future, featuring openness, inclusiveness, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation," he said.

New York City Council Member Christopher Marta shared his experience of living in China.

As a curious young boy growing up in Chinatown, Marta decided to live in China and study at Zhejiang University at the age of 18. "My experience showed me the world," he said.

"I realized the vast beauty and the amazement that China had. It was more than I ever expected living in my tenement building as a kid in Chinatown," he said. "But what it really taught me is that no matter the beauty of the surrounding, the most beautiful thing I learned was that the people, the Chinese people, were so welcoming and friendly.

"They hugged me. They took me to their homes; they took me to their basketball courts. They became my friend. And I realized one thing, that whether you're in China or whether you're in Lower Manhattan, we're all the same. And I think that bonds created by young people are never broken," he said.

About 120 guests from all walks of New York attended Sunday's celebration, including state Senator Leroy Comrie; state Assemblyman David Weprin; Winnie Greco, senior adviser to the mayor and director of Asian Affairs; Sino-American Friendship Association President Peter Zhang; and China Institute CEO George Geh.

The celebration also featured a screening of the award-winning film The Cord of Life. Actress Yao Chen and the film's production team sent video messages and New Year's wishes.