President Xi Jinping has said that China will overcome its domestic difficulties and external headwinds in 2025, in a call for confidence broadcast on New Year’s Eve, the South China Morning Post and Bloomberg report.
“The current economy faces new challenges, including uncertainty in the external environment and the pressures from the transition between old and new energies,” Xi said in his televised speech. “However, these challenges can be overcome through hard work. We have always grown stronger through adversity, so we must remain confident.”
Describing China’s economy as “stable overall and progressing amid stability,” Xi noted that the mainland’s gross domestic product (GDP) was on track to hit its annual growth target of around five percent.
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Specifically, he stated that GDP was set to surpass 130 trillion yuan (US$17.8 trillion) for 2024.
The president also indicated that stimulus measures, first launched in late September, would continue into 2025. Along with helping to reinvigorate the mainland’s lacklustre economy, these are expected to help counter any impact from potential increases in US tariffs after American president-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House later this month.
China’s economy has been facing multiple headwinds in recent years, including a struggling property sector, weak consumer demand, technological restrictions imposed by Washington, and high youth unemployment.
