In his first New Year’s address as China’s leader on Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) said the country must press ahead with reforms this year to improve livelihoods and make the nation “rich and strong.”
China enters the new year facing slowing economic growth, rising environmental concerns and higher tensions with Japan over a territorial dispute that has damaged a US$366 billion trade relationship.
Tackling those challenges will be up to Xi, who as head of the Chinese Communist Party, military and state has amassed the greatest individual sway over his nation since former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平).
“In 2014, we will make new strides along the path of reform,” Xi said in a speech broadcast on state radio on Tuesday. “I firmly believe that new glories will be awaiting the Chinese people.”
In the address, Xi said a key task will be overseeing the broadest economic reforms since the 1990s, which were spelled out at the Communist Party Central Committee’s Third Plenum in November. Shifts include loosening the one-child policy, increasing property rights for farmers and encouraging private investment in more industries.
China’s equities slumped last year amid concern economic growth will slow without structural reforms such as revamping the nation’s state-owned enterprises.
The Shanghai Composite Index fell 6.8 percent last year, capping a third year of declines out of four and the worst-performing market in Asia.
An official report yesterday showed a manufacturing index slipped to a four-month low last month, underscoring challenges for Xi he tries to sustain economic momentum while rolling out reforms.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index was at 51, the National Bureau of Statistics of China and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said in Beijing. That was less than the median 51.2 estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 29 economists and November’s 51.4. A number above 50 indicates expansion.
Beijing estimates that economic growth slowed to 7.6 percent last year, according to a report by the Chinese State Council to the legislature. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News last month said they see growth slowing to a 24-year low of 7.5 percent this year and 7.2 percent next year.
Xinhua news agency said on Monday that Xi will head a reform-leading group to guide changes agreed to at the Third Plenum.
“Xi’s appointment as the head of the leading group is very significant,” Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior economist and strategist at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong, said in an e-mail. “It means that the reforms are a top priority for the current leadership and therefore markets should watch them very carefully as a key driver of China’s economic and social policies in coming years.”
People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan (周小川) said the nation will maintain a “prudent” monetary policy and promote financial reforms this year, according to a New Year’s Eve statement posted on the central bank’s Web site. Policymakers will ensure financial stability, he added.
In a separate speech published by Xinhua on Tuesday, Xi said that China will also strive to improve its “soft power.”
China has proved that its “path, theory and system” of socialism with Chinese characteristics is a success, Xi was quoted by Xinhua as saying.
“Everyone can realize their own dream in fighting for the China Dream,” the president said.
Chinese state media describe the space program as an element of the “China Dream,” a slogan unveiled by Xi that signifies a stronger military as well as improved livelihoods.
Last month, China landed an unmanned rover on the moon, making the Asian nation the third country after the US and the Soviet Union to land a spacecraft on the lunar surface.
Tensions have spiked with Japan since the Japanese government bought several islands at the center of a territorial dispute with Taiwan and China in September 2012.
In November, China prompted criticism from the US, South Korea and Japan after it announced an air defense zone over the islands.
China on Monday ruled out meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after he visited the Yasunuki Shrine, which memorializes Japan’s fallen soldiers, including war criminals.
“I sincerely hope that people in the world can understand and help each other when achieving their own dreams, in efforts to make the Earth where we live a nice home for all of us,” Xi said in his speech.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was