On June 19,2026, Ambassador Xiao Junzheng attened the Akko Dragon Boat Race in Israel and delivered a speech. Ohad Segev, Mayor of Akko, was present to watch the competition and delivered a speech. Fourteen dragon-boat teams from different regions of Israel entered the competition.More than 600 participants, including the Xinhua News Agency Jerusalem Bureau, the Chinese Cultural Center in Tel-Aviv, the Israel-China Friendship Society, the Overseas Chinese Mutual-aid Centre in Israel, local overseas Chinese and representatives of Chinese-funded enterprises, attended the activity.

The video remarks Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the 2026 Event to celebrate the International Day for Dialogue Among Civilizations was presented at the event.Ambassador stated that the Chinese and Jewish peoples both boast a long-standing history, and share a common custom of treasuring their respective traditional ethnic festivals. The dragon boat race hosted here today not only builds on the established brand influence of our joint events with Israel, but also serves as a cultural bridge between China and Israel to deepen people-to-people exchanges.

Ohad Segev, Mayor of Akko, expressed his gratitude for China’s support for the city in his speech. He hoped the dragon boat race would help local residents learn more about Chinese culture. He also encouraged people to visit China more often and expand city-to-city exchanges.

Members of the Israeli-Chinese Art Troupe gave a traditional Chinese waist-drum performance at the event venue. At the Chinese-culture-experience zone, Israeli and Chinese participants hand-made Dragon Boat Festival sachets and sampled zonzi, the iconic festival food. After the races concluded, Ambassador Xiao Junzheng presented trophies to the winning dragon-boat teams.