BEIJING: President Xi Jinping said on Sunday the Chinese economy had grown \u201cmore resilient and dynamic\u201d in 2023, despite financial figures continuing to disappoint as the post-Covid recovery stalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also promised in a bullish New Year\u2019s address to the nation that China would \u201csurely be reunified\u201d — a reference to the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own and has pledged to seize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xi has endured a challenging 2023 at the helm of the world\u2019s second-largest economy, with his administration struggling to sustain an economic rebound since rapidly dumping its onerous zero-Covid policy a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Xi said on state broadcaster CCTV the economy had \u201cweathered the storm\u201d and become \u201cmore resilient and dynamic than before\u201d, hailing the promotion of \u201chigh-quality development\u201d and emerging industries such as electric vehicles, lithium batteries and solar panels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said next year \u201cwe must… consolidate and enhance the positive trend of economic recovery, and achieve long-term economic stability\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet he also acknowledged some hardship, saying \u201csome companies are facing operating pressure (and) some people are encountering difficulties in employment and living conditions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll of these things concern me greatly,\u201d he said. \u201cOur goal is both ambitious and yet very simple. In the end, it is to help people live better lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Record youth unemployment and a persistent debt crisis in the crucial property sector have hemmed in China\u2019s growth this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Official figures released on Sunday showed a decline in nationwide factory activity deepened in December, the third straight month of contraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Analysts have said Beijing may struggle to achieve its stated annual growth target of around five percent, the lowest such ambition in years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xi briefly mentioned Taiwan, weeks before the democratic island heads to the polls on January 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beijing has escalated its pressure campaign against Taiwan this year and tensions are high, with independence-leaning candidate Lai Ching-te leading opinion polls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xi declared in his Sunday speech \u201cthe motherland will surely be reunified\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCompatriots on both sides of the (Taiwan) Strait should be bound by a common sense of purpose to share in the glory of national rejuvenation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xi has said China would never rule out the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taipei officials have repeatedly raised concerns about election interference and misinformation, claims dismissed by Beijing as \u201chype\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xi sent new year greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier on Sunday in which he hailed strengthening ties with Moscow in 2023, according to an official foreign ministry readout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two longtime allies have drawn closer in recent years even as Western countries have turned their backs on Russia over its invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xi said \u201cthe material and public opinion foundation of our relationship has become stronger\u201d, according to CCTV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the face of changes unseen in a century and a turbulent regional and international situation, China-Russia relations have maintained healthy and stable development and moved steadily in the right direction,\u201d Xi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUnder our joint leadership, political mutual trust between the two sides has further deepened, strategic coordination has drawn closer, and mutually beneficial cooperation has continued to achieve new results,\u201d he was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING: President Xi Jinping said on Sunday the Chinese economy had grown \u201cmore resilient and dynamic\u201d in 2023, despite financial figures continuing to disappoint as the post-Covid recovery stalls. He also promised in a bullish New Year\u2019s address to the nation that China would \u201csurely be reunified\u201d — a reference to the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own and has pledged to seize. Xi has endured a challenging 2023 at the helm of the world\u2019s second-largest economy, with his administration struggling to sustain an economic rebound…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/awamimission.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/awamimission.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/awamimission.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awamimission.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awamimission.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/awamimission.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":454,"href":"https:\/\/awamimission.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452\/revisions\/454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awamimission.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/awamimission.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awamimission.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awamimission.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}