Central China's city of Liuyang, dubbed the "hometown of fireworks," staged a special edition of its Saturday night fireworks show on Dec 28 to celebrate the upcoming New Year.
Since 2023, the city has been routinely holding fireworks shows on Saturdays to boost tourism, attracting over 5 million spectators so far. Over 100,000 spectators gathered for the end-of-the-year special at Liuyang's Sky Theater on Saturday.
The hour-long spectacle of creativity and brilliance lit up the night sky with over 10,000 fireworks that reached heights of over 300 meters. The show also used 1,000 drones to launch 1,800 blue fireworks in midair to mimic a meteor shower.
For a special feature in the last show of the year, organizers collected 2,025 wishes and launched them to the sky with 2,025 lantern shape fireworks, wishing people a happy New Year in 2025.
Liuyang has been actively developing its fireworks industry in recent years, introducing new standards for fireworks products, emphasizing environmental performance and innovation. LiuYang has pioneered the development of eco-friendly fireworks, aiming to reduce the environmental impact of the industry while maintaining the stunning visual effects that have made the city famous.
China's 'hometown of fireworks' stages end-of-year special show
The halt in Russian gas transit through Ukraine has heightened fears over supply shortages and soaring energy costs in Europe.
Both Ukraine and Russia announced the stoppage of Russian gas supplies through Ukraine's territory to Europe on Wednesday, pushing some EU countries to resort to costlier energy alternatives.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday said that the halt will have "severe consequences for all of us in the European Union (EU), but will not harm Russia".
Fico said that Slovakia stands to lose hundreds of millions of euros in gas transit fees, while its citizens will face higher gas and electricity bills. He criticized major EU nations for prioritizing geopolitical goals at the expense of smaller countries' interests and needs.
On the same day, Slovakia's gas importer, SPP, announced that it has contingency plans in place to ensure gas supplies through alternative channels, such as utilizing pipelines from Germany and Hungary. However, this will incur additional transit fees.
Russian energy giant Gazprom said Wednesday that it has stopped gas supply for transit through Ukraine due to expiration of key agreements and the lack of renewal by the Ukrainian side.
The agreements, signed on Dec. 30, 2019, included a contract between Gazprom and Ukraine's national oil and gas company Naftogaz on the transportation of Russian gas through the Ukrainian territory, and a cooperation agreement between the operators of the two countries' gas transmission systems. These agreements officially expired at 08:00 Moscow time Wednesday, Gazprom said on Telegram.
Gazprom said Ukraine had repeatedly and unequivocally refused to extend these agreements, leaving the Russian company without the technical and legal means to continue gas transit through Ukraine.
Consequently, the supply of Russian gas through Ukrainian territory stopped at 08:00 Moscow time Wednesday, it added.
On the same day, Ukraine's Ministry of Energy reported that the transit of Russian natural gas through its gas transmission system was stopped at 07:00 Kyiv time Wednesday. The decision was made in the interest of national security, the ministry said, noting that Ukraine had informed its international partners about this in the prescribed manner.
Chinese analysts pointed out that Slovakia, being highly dependent on Russian gas transported via Ukraine, is the European country most affected by the supply halt.
"As the distance to alternative European gas pipelines is relatively far, Slovakia, heavily dependent on Russian gas transiting through Ukraine, is among the worst-hit countries. With the disruption of this route, Slovakia faces the greatest direct impact in terms of energy security and gas supply," said Cui Hongjian, professor at the Institute of Regional and Global Governance, Beijing Foreign Studies University.
Slovakia may need to spend an additional 500 million to one billion euros annually on gas imports, Cui said.
Cui further analyzed that some European countries had anticipated difficulties in sustaining gas cooperation between Ukraine and Russia and sought alternative solutions in advance. Hungary, for instance, is expected to rely more on gas supplies from the "TurkStream" and "South Stream" pipelines passing through Türkiye.
Cui noted that the search for alternative energy sources will intensify competition among European countries.
"Whether it's Slovakia or other European countries, the breakdown of natural gas cooperation with Russia forces them to seek alternatives. However, this process will further exacerbate competition among them. Over the past few days, the potential disruption of gas transit via Ukraine has already caused natural gas prices, as well as electricity prices, to continue rising across Europe," said Cui.
He said that European nations will have to bear the bruise of higher energy costs, at least for this winter.
Russian gas transit halt heightens fears over energy crisis in Europe
