Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed plenty of solid gains in pushing high-quality development in 2024 and called for the nation to remain confident in the coming year in his New Year Address delivered on Tuesday evening in Beijing to ring in 2025.
From economic growth and emerging new business sectors to the concerns of the people and China’s performance at the Paris Olympics, the president touched upon various topics, reviewing the country’s achievements in 2024.
In 2025, which is set to see the completion of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), China will implement more proactive macro policies, promote greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and maintain sound momentum in economic and social development, Xi said.
China’s GDP is expected to exceed 130 trillion yuan (about $18 trillion) in 2024, and its grain output surpassed 700 million tonnes. New advances have been made in pursuing integrated new urbanization and rural revitalization and green and low-carbon development.
For the first time, China has produced more than 10 million new energy vehicles in a year, said Xi, adding that breakthroughs have been made in fields including integrated circuits, artificial intelligence and quantum communications.
Xi noted that 2024 witnessed the collection of samples by the Chang’e-6 lunar probe from the far side of the moon, the delivery of China’s first domestically grown deep-ocean drilling vessel, Mengxiang, the opening of the cross-sea Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link and the operation of China’s fifth scientific outpost in the Antarctic Qinling Station.
Chinese athletes raced to the top in the 2024 Paris Olympics and achieved their best performance in an Olympic Games held overseas.
“China,” “development,” “world,” “high-quality,” and “economy” were among the most frequently mentioned words and phrases in Xi’s New Year Address.
As a responsible major country, China actively promotes global governance reform and deepening solidarity and cooperation among the Global South countries. The Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation was successfully held in September.
Measures to safeguard people’s livelihoods have been effective. “This year, basic pension has been raised, and mortgage rates have dropped,” Xi said, adding that social insurance coverage has expanded. He said the most important job is to ensure a happy life for the people.
2024 also marked the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the 75th birthday of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy and Air Force and the 25th anniversary of Macao’s return to China. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sounded a clarion call for further deepening reform comprehensively.