Xi Jinping points out that the development of China’s tensions is a ‘top priority’

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Acknowledging the pressure on the 1.4 billion people, Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized support for the vulnerable elderly and youth in his New Year’s address.

XiThe speech comes after economic planners have struggled for four years to restore consumer confidence or reverse rising youth unemployment and sluggish wage growth.

In a televised speech in front of the Great Wall on Tuesday night, the 71-year-old leader said that issues of jobs, income growth, care for the elderly, child care, education and health care are always on my mind. He said.

Xi said the Chinese Communist Party leadership meeting in July had voiced a “call for more comprehensive and deep reform.”

“Enabling people to live happy lives is a priority,” he said. “Every family hopes that children will get a good education, that the elderly will have good care services and that the youth will have more opportunities for development.”

China’s economyThe world’s second-largest economy after the United States grew 4.8 percent in the first nine months of the year, about 5 percent below Beijing’s official target.

Weak sentiment and price pressures follow a series of attacks from the pandemic and years of asset market collapse, as the Communist Party reasserts control over China’s business landscape.

Xi on Tuesday also repeated thin warnings about international support for Taiwan. China asserts its sovereignty over Taiwan and has not ruled out forceful action if Taipei does not accept unification indefinitely.

“Friends on both sides of the sea are one family. “No one can break our blood ties and ties, and no one can stop the historical trend of national unification,” Xi said.

China is pursuing key Chinese-made technologies by increasing state support for high-tech manufacturing and industry, investing in electric vehicles, batteries, semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

On Tuesday, China showed progress in technological self-reliance and self-reliance in technology, including computer chips, AI and space exploration.

A series of policy easing measures announced by Beijing since September, including some property and stock market support, have been seen as a sign that the Xi administration is shifting its focus to domestic interests.

Reflecting those changes, the World Bank last week raised its forecast for China’s gross domestic product growth by 0.4 percentage points to 4.5 percent.

However, China has been rocked by mass killings and stabbings this year; Some experts blamed this for the worsening of social problems. Fan Weiqiu, 62, was sentenced to death last week after driving his car into a crowd in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai in November, killing at least 35 people. A decade.

Ahead of a series of national holidays, Beijing has begun urging local governments to provide seasonal cash gifts to economically disadvantaged people, including unemployed youth.

Kelvin Lam, an economist at Pantone Macroeconomics, said the grants, while not having a significant impact on the wider economy, could boost social stability and consumption in poor rural areas.

China’s economic outlook is further weakened by strained relations with the US.

In the wake of President Joe Biden’s all-out invasion of Ukraine, the US has restricted the use of Chinese computer chips, restricted Chinese investments in the US and imposed sanctions on Chinese companies.

Earlier on Tuesday, Xi told Russian leader Vladimir Putin that “strategic cooperation” between China and Russia continues to reach a peak under his leadership, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Additional reporting by Wenji Ding in Beijing, Cheng Leng in Hong Kong and Catherine Hill in Taipei