Ringing in Lunar New Year at Nasdaq

The Chinese consul general in New York rang the closing bell at the Nasdaq Stock Market on Wednesday in celebration of the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year, the Year of the Rat.

Consul General Huang Ping said the zodiac sign symbolizes "the sagacity, swiftness and lots of qualities in Chinese culture. And I think those are important qualities for good investors as well."

The Chinese Lunar New Year — the most important traditional holiday in Chinese culture — falls on Saturday, Jan 25, this year. Many Chinese will be headed home for family reunions.

Huang said 2019, which marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, also included milestones for China's economy.

According to official data, China's GDP in 2019 hit nearly 100 trillion yuan ($14.46 trillion) with per capita GDP exceeding $10,000.

"China has an enormous potential market and a fast-growing middle-income group," he said. "The country will further enhance opening-up to contribute to the world economy growth."

Last year also marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of China-US diplomatic relations. The envoy said both countries can "absolutely find effective methods to handle problems through dialogue on the basis of equality and mutual respect".

Robert McCooey, senior vice-president of Nasdaq, said the platform would continue to support Chinese companies "in any way we can".

He noted that 133 Chinese companies have been listed on Nasdaq, many of which are iconic and innovative entities, such as e-commerce giant JD, search engine Baidu, social e-commerce site Pinduoduo, and video-sharing website Bilibili.