Xi Jinping on December 31st.
Photographer: Yao Dawei / Xinhua / Getty Images
Photographer: Yao Dawei / Xinhua / Getty Images
President Xi Jinping issued an unusually optimistic assessment of China’s future, noting that “the weather and the situation” were on the side of the country in a new year marked by national turmoil in the United States.
The Chinese leader said Monday at a provincial and ministerial-level meeting of officials that he saw that “opportunities generally outweigh challenges,” a marked shift from his sometimes terrible warnings of recent months. While repeating an allusion often used to the challenges posed by President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies, he expressed new confidence that China would win in the long run.
“The world is experiencing profound changes that are not seen in a century, but time and situation are in our favor,” Xi said at the study session at the Communist Party School, according to the official news agency. Xinhua. “That’s where our determination and confidence comes from.”
Xi’s optimistic statements come amid an economic upturn at home and a historic upheaval in Washington. In addition to the chaos on Capitol Hill last week and the worsening coronavirus outbreak in America, a forecast released by the Center for Economics and Business Research last month projected that China would surpass the United States as the world’s largest economy in dollars by 2028, five years earlier than a year ago.
In similar statements in 2020, Xi emphasized “unprecedented risks and challenges” as the coronavirus hit China and bilateral ties with the United States fell to historic lows, with disputes mostly from the pandemic and the trade to Taiwan and Hong Kong.
On Monday, Xi urged provincial officials, who are preparing to approve a new round of five-year plans in their annual legislative sessions, to remain “humble and prudent,” according to Xinhua. He said efforts were needed to raise awareness of possible dangers, consider the worst cases and learn to deal with more complex and difficult situations.
Legislative sessions are part of a long series of events as Xi prepares to celebrate the centenary of the founding of the ruling party in July. Xi also reiterated his call for the country to rely more on technological innovation while building a “large national market” to increase consumption.
– With the assistance of Lucille Liu and Jing Li