To express gratitude to foreign friends who have long supported and participated in the economic construction and social development of Dalian, improve the city's business environment, and promote high-quality development, the 2025 Dalian Foreign Friends New Year Reception was held on February 7th at the Dalian International Convention Center. Xiong Maoping, member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, attended the event. Chen Shaowang, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and Mayor, delivered a New Year's greeting. Gong Fuqing, Chairman of the Municipal Political Consultative Conference, and Liu Hong, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, also attended the event. Four representatives of Dalian Maritime University’s international students from four countries were invited to participate in the event. They gathered with over 200 Chinese and foreign guests to celebrate the Chinese New Year, share friendships, and discuss the future together.
The third floor of Dalian International Convention Center was decorated with colorful lights and warm atmosphere, exuding a strong festive atmosphere on site. DMU international students, together with Chinese and foreign guests, watched lion dance performances, experienced the charm of intangible cultural heritages, tasted Chinese cuisine, and immersed themselves in the rich flavor of Chinese New Year. At the intangible cultural heritage exhibition area, students experienced shadow puppetry, sugar figurine blowing, and many intangible cultural heritage items such as traditional qipao, Dalian shell carving, leather carving, bird and insect seal carving, clay sculpture, and flower arrangement. In the specialty exhibition area, each district, city and county, and the opening pilot area have exhibited their own specialty and cultural and creative products, from tomatoes on sticks, cotton candy, Zhuanghe strawberry, to Changhai sea cucumber, which has made Chinese and foreign guests praise and shout their joy.
During the program performance, DMU international students, along with representatives from other universities in Dalian, passionately sang the song "Love and Beloved as a Family". “Because we are a family, a family that loves and cares for each other”, sang the voice of all foreign friends in Dalian, resonating warmly with all the guests from home and abroad. The joyful interaction between the stage and the audience brought the reception to a successful conclusion.
The successful hosting of this event not only reflects the firm determination of the Dalian Municipal Government to remember its instructions, be grateful and forge ahead, and work together with international friends to empower high-quality development with high-level openness and jointly write the high-quality development of Dalian's "two pioneering areas", but also provides a good opportunity for foreign friends to further understand and experience traditional Chinese culture, enhance cultural cognition and emotional resonance, and build a bridge of friendship for promoting cultural exchange and cooperation between China and foreign countries. This is the second consecutive year that DMU international students have been invited to attend the Dalian Foreign Friends New Year Reception. The outstanding performance of DMU international students demonstrated the achievements of DMU in cultivating international talents. And the Foreign Affairs Office of Dalian Municipal People's Government has sent a Letter of Acknowledgement to affirm and praise the participating teachers and students of DMU. In the future, the International Students’ Education Center of DMU will continue to serve the regional economic construction and high-quality social development as its mission, by absorbing and cultivating more high-level international talents, showcase a more open Dalian to the world and contribute to the construction of Dalian, the northern pearl, as a "high-level open gateway hub for internal and external communication".
