CMG unveils mascot for 2025 Spring Festival Gala

China

CMG unveils mascot for 2025 Spring Festival Gala

2024-12-02 16:35 Last Updated At：22:27

China Media Group (CMG) on Monday released the official mascot for its 2025 Spring Festival Gala, as the Year of the Snake in the Chinese lunar calendar is approaching.

Based on the image of a cartoon snake, the mascot is named "Si Shengsheng", and was designed to match the theme of the Spring Festival Gala -- "Year of the Snake, Keep Your Spirits Awake!"

The outline of the mascot's head and the shape of the patterns on its cheeks are derived from a silver "Ruyi", a traditional Chinese ornament representing blessings and auspiciousness, unearthed in Shaanxi Province from the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Its head is decorated with a bat pattern and its tail is embellished with a long knot representing longevity in Chinese culture, making the entire mascot represent blessings and good luck.

The shape of the eyebrows and eyes of the vivid mascot is taken from the pattern of snake-shaped bronze cultural relics unearthed from the Sanxingdui Ruins, one of the world's greatest archaeological findings of the 20th century in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

This pattern is also widely seen on bronze and jade items in the Central Plains region, showing the diversity and unity of Chinese civilization.

Some of the patterns on the mascot are carved with cloisonne craftsmanship, and the filigree inlay art was also used to sketch out a variety of flowers on the mascot, implying that the spring is back.

Green is the main color of the mascot, symbolizing spring and vitality, and a variety of traditional Chinese colors are also used in the design.

The Spring Festival Gala hosted by CMG has been an essential part of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration since 1983. The gala includes songs, dance, comic sketches, operas and folk arts.

The annual spectacle, known as the most-watched television program in the world, is broadcast on the eve of the Chinese New Year, when families come together to ring in the new lunar year.

The 2025 Spring Festival Gala will be on the air on the lunar New Year's Eve, which falls on January 28, 2025.

Biden's decision to block Nippon Steel's proposed acquisition of US steel plant might hurt economy: scholar

2025-01-04 20:17 Last Updated At：20:47

U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday officially blocked Nippon Steel's proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel on national security grounds, which is a decision that could hurt the U.S. economy, said a U.S. scholar.

Biden said Friday that he had decided to block the 14.1 billion U.S. dollars sale of U.S. Steel to the Japanese steel giant, while urging the two steelmakers to "fully and permanently" abandon their plan.

In late 2023, Nippon Steel announced plans to acquire U.S. Steel, which is headquartered in Pennsylvania, one of the key swing states in the 2024 presidential election. Before Biden withdrew from the race, both he and his then-opponent, Donald Trump, had expressed opposition to the acquisition.

In an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN), Nicholas Economides, an economics professor from New York University, also talked about President-elect Donald Trump's possible plans once he takes office later this month.

"It is very possible, I might say it's even likely, there will be tariffs and tax incentives and other measures that President-elect Trump will initiate, but I think that overall at present, this is in my opinion, a bad move for the United States. If U.S. steel would accept the merger, then we would have a stronger company - the Japanese and the American company together," said the professor.

As President-elect Donald Trump is only weeks away from taking office, many believe Trump's mantra of tariffs and "America First" are just one big negotiating ploy.

Economides pointed out that tariff is one of the methods Trump uses to protect certain industries of the United States.

"To a large extent, it could be a negotiating tactic. In some cases, though, and specifically specific industries, it might not be a negotiating tactic. Tariffs might be a way to protect the particular industries that Trump thinks are very important for the United States," he said.