2023-12-31 15:12:28
In his New Year’s address, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for deeper reforms and the promotion of education, science and technology. The People’s Republic will “consolidate and intensify the positive trend of economic recovery and achieve stable and long-term economic development,” Xi said on Sunday.
Regarding Taiwan, he said in the original Chinese version: “The reunification of the motherland is historically inevitable.” The official English translation published by Xinhua News Agency read: “China will surely be reunified.”
There were no military threats once morest the island in Xi’s speech. Taiwan, which is democratically governed and allied with the USA, is considered part of China under international law. Beijing has not ruled out the use of force to achieve reunification. Presidential elections will take place in Taiwan on January 13th.
Xi sees his country’s economy strengthening despite a series of crises around the world. China has weathered the storm and has become “more resilient and dynamic,” he said in the New Year’s address.
Xi has had a challenging year at the helm of the world’s second-largest economy. His government struggled to get the economy to recover following the previous strict zero-Covid policy with hard lockdowns. High youth unemployment and the crisis in the real estate sector put a strain on the country. According to official figures from Sunday, industrial production in China fell for the third month in a row in December. According to experts, it may be difficult for China to achieve its self-imposed target of five percent annual growth.
China’s head of state once more praised the good relations with Russia and its President Vladimir Putin on Sunday. As broadcaster CCTV reported, he said that relations with Moscow had “become stronger.”
“Faced with unprecedented changes in a century and a turbulent regional and international situation, China-Russia relations have maintained a healthy and stable development and steadily moved in the right direction,” Xi said in his New Year’s wishes to Putin. Under their “joint leadership,” trust between both sides has strengthened, strategic coordination has become closer and cooperation has brought “new results.”
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