BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday underscored the strength of Sino-Russian ties and said that China and Russia are moving forward together avoiding the path of confrontation.
In a New Year message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Xi said, as quoted by Xinhua news agency, “China and Russia are always moving ahead hand in hand, following the right path, without forming alliances, without confrontation and without acting against third parties.”
The Chinese leader said that mutual political trust and coordination of positions between China and Russia “regularly rise to higher levels under the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two countries.”.
In his New Year message for 2025 delivered through China Media Group and the internet, Xi called for the nation to remain confident in the coming year, saying the world’s second-largest economy can overcome its challenges and pressure through hard work.
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Set to fully complete its 14th Five-Year Plan in 2025, China will implement more proactive and effective policies, prioritize high-quality development, promote greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and maintain sound momentum in economic and social development, Xi said.
He said the Chinese economy “now faces some new conditions, including challenges of uncertainties in the external environment and pressure of transformation from old growth drivers into new ones.”
“But we can prevail with our hard work. As always, we grow in the wind and rain, and we get stronger through hard times. We must be confident,” Xi said.
Reviewing China’s footprint in 2024, Xi said the economy has rebounded and is on an upward trajectory, with the national GDP expected to pass the mark of about $18.08 trillion and the country’s grain output surpassing 700 million tonnes.
He also noted that China has fostered new quality productive forces, and new business sectors, forms and models have kept emerging. For the first time, China has produced more than 10 million new energy vehicles in a year, and breakthroughs have been made in fields including integrated circuits, artificial intelligence and quantum communications.
