Xi Jinping says China has hit 2025 growth target – Financial Times
Xi Jinping has lauded his country’s rising “national power” as he trumpeted the country’s economic growth, scientific breakthroughs and expanding soft power in a New Year’s Eve address to the nation.
China’s “large artificial intelligence models have advanced rapidly and we’ve made new breakthroughs in self-developed chips”, the country’s leader said, speaking into the camera from a desk in Beijing.
He noted the nation’s humanoid robots had learned to do kung fu and fleets of drones were staging dazzling firework-like aerial shows, while Chinese-made movies and games such as Nezha and Black Myth: Wukong had found audiences around the world.
“Chinese culture shines with even greater brilliance,” he said. “Our economic strength, scientific and technological capacity, national defence capability and overall national power have risen to new heights.”
Xi’s comments come at the end of a year dominated by a trade war with the US, growing geopolitical tensions and rivalry over everything from chips to rare earths.
Ahead of Xi’s evening address, state media announced several days of Chinese military exercises around Taiwan had come to an end. Xi said Chinese people “on both sides of the Taiwan Strait shared deep bonds of blood” and called the trend to national reunification “unstoppable”.
Earlier in the day, Xi told members of Beijing’s top political advisory body that China’s full-year growth for 2025 was expected to be “around 5 per cent”, meeting its target and in line with growth in 2024. He projected total output of roughly Rmb140tn ($20tn).
“China’s economy has advanced under pressure, shifting towards new and higher-quality growth, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality,” he said.
While strong exports have helped power China’s growth this year even in the face of trade tensions with the US, the world’s second-largest economy continues to grapple with a prolonged property-sector crisis that has weighed on consumer spending and investment. The economy grew 4.8 per cent in the third quarter, its slowest pace in a year.
Beijing has pledged to step up efforts to revive consumption, a long-standing weak spot in the economy of 1.4bn people, including through expanded fiscal support.
The government this week unveiled more funding for a consumer goods trade-in scheme to support sales of white goods and electronics. The state planner on Wednesday announced an early batch of project approvals for 2026 with expenditures totalling about Rmb295bn.
Xi also said China had injected “positive energy” into an international order marked by instability and division, pointing to Beijing’s push for new global governance initiatives and a greater role for multilateral institutions.
“China has always stood on the right side of history,” he said.
Xi started the day by exchanging New Year’s messages with his close ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the two leaders pledging deeper co-operation in the coming year, according to official news agency Xinhua.
Xi said two face-to-face meetings in Beijing and Moscow in 2025 had advanced bilateral ties, leading to the rollout of mutual visa-free travel policies and progress on cross-border energy infrastructure.
China provides its northern neighbour with crucial economic support that has helped sustain Russia’s war with Ukraine. In turn, Putin has vocally backed China’s claim to the self-ruled island of Taiwan.
Looking ahead, Xi said 2026 would mark the beginning of China’s next five-year plan, with policy focused on boosting growth while maintaining macroeconomic stability.
Guidelines for the new plan, which is expected to be approved in March, highlighted the importance of strengthening consumption, but showed that Beijing remained focused on stepping up high-tech manufacturing and achieving self-reliance in science and industry in the face of long-term rivalry with the US.
“The blueprint has been drawn,” Xi said. “It is time to press ahead.”
