Diplomats send China best wishes for holiday

As Spring Festival nears, many ambassadors to China have extended their new year greetings to the Chinese public and shared their vision for the future development of their countries' ties with the world's second-largest economy.

Jean-Maurice Ripert, the French ambassador, and his wife presented a greeting video on the internet. He said French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to China in January means yet another turning point for China-France ties, adding that the two countries are cooperating in various fields including working for "a cleaner planet".

In a message published in Chinese on people.com.cn, Russian Ambassador Andrey Denisov extended his wishes for "warmth and peace of families" as well as good health in the Year of the Dog.

China-Russia ties have gained rich outcomes in the past year, Denisov said, adding that the five meetings between the two countries' heads of state in 2017 reflected a high-level of trust and a spirit of partnership that injected a new driving force into future cooperation.

Dolana Msimang, the South African ambassador, told China Central Television that she believes Spring Festival is "a very good tradition", as "it brings back the spirit of family".

Looking to the future, Msimang said, South Africa and China will cooperate on more issues, particularly innovation, science and technology. She said she is happy that the ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation will be upgraded to a summit this year.

The US embassy posted on its weibo account a video of US Ambassador Terry Branstad wishing the Chinese people a happy Year of the Dog. Branstad appears with his wife in the video, which has footage of him petting a dog. "Happy Spring Festival," he said in Chinese.

Several other embassies, including those of Switzerland, Thailand and Kazakhstan, posted greeting videos or messages for Spring Festival on their weibo accounts.