France's La Poste Group on Friday issued two commemorative stamps for the Chinese New Year, underscoring cultural exchange and friendship between France and China.

The Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year, which lands on Feb 17 this year, is the most important holiday in China. This year ushers in the Year of the Horse, the seventh animal in the 12-year Chinese zodiac cycle.

The stamps feature horses set against a yellow background with red saddles. One depicts a leaping horse in a strong, dynamic pose full of energy, while the other shows a horse turning its head in a calm and composed portrait.

The two stamps correspond to different postal uses. The stamp featuring a leaping horse is for domestic mail in France and has a face value of 2.25 euros (2.66 U.S. dollars), while the other, valued at 1.52 euros (1.79 U.S. dollars), is intended for international mail.

Chen Jianghong, an artist of Chinese origin who designed the stamps, said the horse symbolizes strength and loyalty in Chinese culture. Through the use of color, lines and rhythm, he sought to convey the animal's sense of movement and freedom.

The two horses also pay tribute to the artistic heritage of both countries, Chen said, adding that one draws inspiration from the rearing horse ridden by Napoleon in the works of French painter Jacques-Louis David, while the other echoes the saddled horses depicted by Tang Dynasty Chinese painter Han Gan, creating a sense of dialogue between civilizations.

"For these stamps, I use the Gongbi technique. It's more precise. And it's with line, color, and movement that I express the freedom and strength of the horse. And since I work for the French postal service, I tried to find a language of dialogue between two cultures," said Chen.

Since 2005, La Poste Group has marked the Chinese New Year each year by issuing stamps featuring the zodiac animal of the year. It's an essential tradition, as evidenced by the long lines of philatelists who flock to the event as soon as it's released to get their hands on them.

"A little over 20 years ago, we started celebrating the Chinese zodiac signs for the Chinese New Year. It was an idea we launched initially, and gradually, but quite quickly, it became a success, a rather strong success for French philatelists. Because, in fact, each time, we are committed to making very, very beautiful products. And so, they've found, if I may say so, their market, and collectors are now eagerly awaiting these blocks. I'll put it this way: if we ever stopped making them, I think we'd be in a lot of trouble," said Paul Dworkin, director of Philaposte, La Poste Group's prestigious philatelic entity.

Jean-Paul Forceville, director of European and international relations at La Poste Group, said stamps remain both collectible items and powerful messengers, adding that they are also "a kind of diplomatic object" that helps celebrate closer ties and friendship between two countries.

"Indeed, we were a bit ahead of our time. Because we also wanted to honor the presence of a large Chinese community in France, which is very attached to its culture and to this Chinese New Year tradition, as is perfectly normal. There is a growing enthusiasm for Chinese New Year. It's a beautiful, colorful, and lively celebration, and so, I think the French appreciate it more and more. We live in a world that is unfortunately a little fractured, that isn't doing well. So, I hope that the Chinese people will obviously be at peace, with much prosperity and development," he said.

Starting February 9, 2026, these stamps will be available in many post offices across France, symbolizing the friendship and lasting ties between the French and Chinese people.

The 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, which are used to record the years and reflect people's attributes, are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.