Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed confidence in economic growth and scientific achievements in his New Year's address, urging the country to push forward with its next five-year economic development plan.
"Our country's total economic volume has continuously crossed new thresholds and is expected to reach 140 trillion yuan (approximately $19.2 trillion) this year," Xi said in the 2026 New Year's address broadcast on China Central Television (CCTV) on Tuesday. "Economic strength, scientific and technological capabilities, national defense power, and comprehensive national strength have risen to a new level, while the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security continues to strengthen."
Xi highlighted the deep integration of science, technology, and industry, saying that innovation achievements have emerged one after another. "AI large language models have developed competitively, and there has been new progress in semiconductor self-reliant research and development," he said. "Our country has become one of the economies with the fastest-rising innovation capabilities."
The president cited the Tianwen-2 asteroid probe, Yasha hydropower station, the domestically-built Fujian aircraft carrier equipped with electromagnetic catapults, humanoid robots, and drones as sources of national pride.
Xi noted that China's museum boom and cultural content such as the video game "Black Myth: Wukong" and the animated film "Ne Zha" have emerged as new achievements, adding that progress has been made in social security.
On international issues, Xi refrained from directly criticizing the United States or Japan, instead emphasizing his "Global Governance Initiative" and reaffirming China's position as a defender of world order.
Regarding Taiwan, Xi maintained a similar tone to last year, stating firmly that "compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait share blood thicker than water, and the historical trend toward national reunification cannot be stopped."
"2026 marks the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan," Xi said. "We must precisely target our goals and tasks, strengthen our confidence, ride the momentum upward, and steadily advance high-quality development. We must further deepen reform and opening-up comprehensively, promote common prosperity for all people, and write a new chapter of the China miracle."
In his 2024 New Year's address, Xi had unusually acknowledged economic difficulties directly, saying that "some enterprises face operational pressure, some people have encountered difficulties in employment and life, and some regions have suffered natural disasters such as floods, typhoons, and earthquakes—all of which weigh on my mind." Last year, he noted that "the current economic operation faces some new situations, with uncertainties and challenges in the external environment, and pressure in the transition between old and new growth drivers." This year, however, Xi made no mention of "difficulties."
