On July 29, a press conference was held in Changsha regarding Hunan Week at the China Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka. It was announced that Hunan Week will be held from August 6 to 8, with the theme of "Splendid Xiaoxiang, Harmonious Coexistence." This is the sixth time Hunan has participated in the World Expo by holding themed events, following the previous expos in Aichi, Shanghai, Milan, Astana, and Dubai.

With the finless porpoise "Xiaoxiang" as the main character, Hunan Week serves as a showcase of Hunan's ongoing efforts in civilized development. In 2024, the number of finless porpoises in Dongting Lake increased from 72 in 2014 to 162, making it the water area with the fastest growth in the endangered finless porpoise population in the entire Yangtze River Basin. Selecting "Xiaoxiang" as the promotion ambassador for Hunan Week aims to echo the theme of the Osaka Expo, with the image of the finless porpoise leaping over the waves, demonstrating Hunan's respect for nature and its responsibilities for safeguarding the homeland for human survival and jointly building a community of life for humanity and nature.

With the "Eight Views of Xiaoxiang" as the main narrative, Hunan Week will present a panoramic display of Hunan's fruitful developments based upon its historic "Huxiang" cultural legacy. The "Eight Views of Xiaoxiang" are highly refined and planned as the main line for content narratives and visual presentations, connecting Hunan's "past, present, and future." Hunan Week features the province's recent achievements in development, as well as its technological future, and cultural tourism. The exhibitions will tell the world the "Stories of Hunan" that highlight its rich cultural heritage and innovative development, serving as an innovative expression connecting Hunan with the world.

With the theme of "Harmonious Coexistence," Hunan Week fully reflects the province's firm attitude towards opening up and cooperation. The term "Harmonious Coexistence" is a powerful explanation of the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind put forward by President Xi Jinping. Hunan Week takes this concept as its main theme, which fully reflects Hunan's integration into the world with a more proactive and confident attitude, striving for cooperative expansion and win-win results. Hunan has enjoyed frequent people-to-people interactions and close economic and trade exchanges with Japan. As of the end of 2024, there were 45 Japanese-invested companies in Hunan. In 2024, Hunan's trade with Japan totaled 12.976 billion CNY.

Expo 2025 Osaka opened in Japan on April 13 this year. It is an important platform for countries around the world to showcase their social, economic, cultural, scientific and technological development achievements, to expand mutual exchanges, to enhance mutual understanding, and to promote mutual learning among civilizations and common prosperity.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Xiao Juan

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn