China's top political advisor Wang Huning on Monday met with Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe, who is in Beijing to attend the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
Wang, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said President Xi Jinping and President Gnassingbe had a fruitful meeting on Monday and decided to elevate bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
China is ready to work with Togo to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, carry forward traditional friendship, enhance strategic mutual trust and push for new fruits of bilateral friendly cooperation, said Wang, adding that the CPPCC is willing to contribute to that.
Gnassingbe said he was pleased to meet with President Xi, and China has always sincerely helped Africa and has been a trustworthy partner.
Noting that the more successful China is, the more Africa develops, Gnassingbe said Africa-China friendship has become the "African consensus," and Africa-China relations have injected stability into the world.
Togo will continue to stand firmly with China to trust and help each other, pursue solidarity and cooperation, and jointly promote peace, security, development and prosperity, he said.
Chinese top political advisor meets Togolese president
The Mid-Autumn Festival Gala, to be held by China Media Group (CMG), will provide a stunning visual feast through the ingenious combination of state-of-the-art technologies and picturesque landscape scenery, aiming to impress the audience via delicate stage designs in romantic and aesthetic settings.
The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Tuesday this year. CMG has announced that the gala is going to take place in Shenyang City, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province.
The stage for the upcoming gala has been set on the lakeside of Dingxiang Lake in Shenyang City as the event is aimed to present an impressive "beautiful, sincere, lyrical, and romantic" artistic vision.
Nestled against the lake, the circular stage featuring a 360-degree panorama highlights the integration of art and modern technologies.
The biggest highlight and innovation of the stage design is a movable "full moon". With a diameter of 12 meters, the moon weighing 10 tons sits on the main stage and casts light on the rippling water.
"The use of water is a feature of the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala. We hope that the mutual reflections of the images will evoke longing for family reunion. These buildings with styles of Ming and Qing dynasties, the typical and simple Chinese moon gate, we hope that through graphics, modeling, physical scenery set and the overall structural setting of the stage, we can combine Chinese aesthetics with modernity and infuse the Chinese aesthetics in the Mid-Autumn Festival stage creation, so as to present them to Chinese people around the world," said Wang Chen, director of stage art of the gala.
"When I got here and saw it today, I thought the stage setting is so beautiful. The big moon delivers an artistic conception. And there is a pavilion by the water. When a performer stands inside and sing, it looks like a beautiful painting. This time I will sing a very beautiful song, and I'll also dance in my performance. I hope people will like it," said Jin Chen, a performer.
In addition to the theme of family reunion, this year's Mid-Autumn Festival Gala also incorporates patriotism, as well as precious video clips showcasing the development of the country.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a significant traditional Chinese festival celebrated on the night when the moon reaches its fullest and brightest on the 15th day of the eighth month on the Chinese lunar calendar.
During the festival, family members would come together, share mooncakes while admiring the moon, and light up lanterns to enjoy the happiness of family reunion.
CMG unveils moon-shaped, dreamlike stage of Mid-Autumn Festival Gala
