4th Seychelles-China Day set for this weekend |18 January 2017

The fourth Seychelles-China Day festival, one of the first major national events for 2017, will be held during the weekend of January 21-22.

The event’s programme was officially announced by a quartet consisting of the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China Yu Jinsong, principal secretary for culture Benjamine Rose, chief executive of the Creative Industries and National Events Agency (Cinea) Galen Bresson and chairman of the Seychelles Chinese Association Charlie Ng Ping Cheung.

The celebration is expected to be launched with an invitations-only opening ceremony which will be held at the stylish Eden Bleu Hotel as from 6pm on Saturday January 21 with speeches from Mr Ng Ping Cheun, Ambassador Yu Jinsong and the Minister for Youth, Sports and Culture Idith Alexander.

The night will conclude with song and dance performances by the Xinjiang Troupe, a group which hails from the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural Xinjiang autonomous region of China, and a reception.

The following day will see the opening of the Chinese Bazaar at the ICCS car park  at 10am, an event which will be open to the public until 6pm.

The Seychellois public will have the chance to indulge in a large variety of traditional Chinese food during the bazaar as well as purchase Chinese products at reduced prices.

In addition the Xinjiang Troupe will perform a two-hour long cultural show at the International Conference Centre of Seychelles (ICCS) starting at 3pm.

The cultural show will be free for the public. However due to space limitation there will be only 100 tickets for grabs which are already available at Cinea’s office at the ICCS.

According to Ms Rose the annual celebration was created to strengthen and celebrate the collaboration and bond which exist between China and Seychelles for more than 150 years and to ensure its continuity.

To better understand the bond between the two countries Ms Rose laid emphasis on China’s crucial and historical role in kick-starting Seychelles economy through Chinese traders as well as China’s current investments in Seychelles.

Ambassador Yu Jinsong  stated that the Seychelles-China Day is purposefully held on the occasion of the Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese New Year, to spread joy and happiness to the local people and she hopes this event will play an important role in enriching Creole culture.

In 2017 the first day of the Chinese New Year will be on Saturday January 28 and will be the Year of the Rooster according to the Chinese calendar.