Director-General QU Dongyu

Chinese New Year Reception Statement

by Dr QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General

23/01/2025

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Welcome to the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration!

The Chinese Lunar New Year starts on 29 January, and marks the start of the Year of the Snake.

The Chinese calendar, which dates back over 4700 years, formulated about 3600 years ago, is based on a 12-year cycle, with each year represented by an animal from the Chinese mythology.

2025 also marks FAO’s 80th Anniversary – celebrating the transformation of our Organization over the past eight decades.

On occasion of our 80th birthday, we will also inaugurate the Food and Agriculture Museum & Network to further increase FAO’s visibility and centrality on a global scale – a testimony to preparing for the future by designing longer and doing concrete.

The Year of the Snake represents opportunities for life-changing transformation and a rebirth; it represents resilience and the ability to overcome challenges.

At FAO, we are working to support transformation at the global level by ensuring that agrifood systems are more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable, leading to the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life – for a shared prosperity leaving no one behind.

At the organizational level, we have transformed FAO to be more fit for purpose, modern, and agile to better meet the needs of our Members and our customers,

And we will continue to pursue the institutional renewal of our Organization to ensure it continues to play its rightful role, in line with our noble mandate, to ensure a world free from hunger and malnutrition.

To be worthy of our souls, to be worthy of our ancestors, to be worthy of our times.

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

I am so pleased for this opportunity to celebrate with all of you, as we come together united by our collective goal to continue working together to ensure a better future for all.

Today, we also come together as a global community to celebrate the rich traditions and cultural heritage that the Chinese Lunar New Year represents.

In China, and in many countries across the world, this is a time when families come together, honouring their ancestors, and embracing customs that have been passed down through generations.

In recognizing the unique aspects of the Chinese Lunar New Year, we also appreciate the diversity that exists across our global community.

In recognition of the importance of celebrating this diversity, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in December 2023 listing the Lunar New Year as a UN floating holiday.

In December 2024, UNESCO added "Spring Festival, social practices of the Chinese people in celebration of the traditional New Year" to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

That reminded me that in December 2016 UNESCO added 24 solar terms to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Reflecting that the Chinese Lunar New Year is not only a traditional Chinese festival, but represents a day for universal family values, as 25 percent of the world's population celebrates the Spring Festival.

Let us pursue our collective ambition for the Renaissance of FAO, for an Organization that is commitment to shaping a brighter future for all, leaving no one behind.

Renaissance demands innovation, adaptation and transformation. It requires us thinking together, learning together, working together and contributing together.

The global challenges we face demand solidarity, understanding and collaboration.

Let us be inspired by the Year of the Snake to turn these challenges into opportunities.

Let us continue to work together to keep food and agriculture at the top of the international agenda, for the benefit of the world’s farmers and consumers, and for the wellbeing of people and the planet.

Let us continue to affirm that peace is a prerequisite for food security, and the Right to Food is a basic human right.

My Dear Friends,

I extend my heartfelt wishes to each of you for prosperity, happiness and health in the year ahead.

Happy Chinese Lunar New Year! 春节快乐,合家幸福!