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In a live New Yearâs Eve speech broadcast to 1.4 billion people, President Xi Jinping made it clear: China isnât stepping back, itâs charging forward.
âChina has become one of the worldâs fastest-rising economies in terms of innovative capacity,â Jinping said, delivering a message soaked in confidence and backed with numbers.
Jinping didnât just talk chips and models, he plugged new progress in humanoid robots, military drones, and the Fujian aircraft carrier, now fitted with an electromagnetic launch system.
The countryâs GDP is set to hit 140 trillion yuan ($20 trillion) in 2025, and the government says it has met key targets from the current Five-Year Plan.
Chinaâs AI industry kicked the door open early in the year when startup DeepSeek released a cheap, powerful model that ignored Washingtonâs chip export bans and shocked Wall Street, caught Silicon Valley off guard, and proved that Jinpingâs tech machine was not waiting for permission.
In his speech, he called for even greater confidence in China, urging the nation to âmaintain firm confidence and build on our momentum.â
Following DeepSeekâs breakthrough, Chinese chipmakers rushed to IPO, raising billions in a push to fuel tech self-reliance. Meanwhile, Trumpâs renewed trade war failed to choke Chinaâs export strength.
Instead of folding, Beijing leaned on its rare earths advantage, forcing concessions on tariffs and export restrictions. Chinese exports flowed to new markets, and for the first time ever, the countryâs trade surplus topped $1 trillion, an unmatched record in global trade.
Despite rising tensions, Jinping and Trump agreed to a one-year truce in South Korea back in October. That fragile peace has helped stabilize ties between the two countries. Trump is scheduled to visit China in April, and the tone from Beijing has clearly changed.
In a noticeable change from his 2025 address, Jinping didnât even mention âexternal uncertaintiesâ as a risk going forward. Instead, he leaned into the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan, promising more development, less noise.
Not everything was a victory lap. Jinping brought back his anti-corruption drive, calling for the Communist Party to âremove decay and grow new flesh.â The purge has now expanded to include scores of military generals, with a record number of top-level officials caught in corruption investigations in 2025.
Domestically, trouble hasnât gone anywhere. Jinping confirmed that China still aims to hit a 5% growth target, even as parts of the economy weaken. Factory activity picked up slightly in December, hitting a PMI of 50.1, but overall signs arenât strong.
Investment fell again in November. Consumer spending dropped, and the property sector kept sliding, underlining soft demand at home. Still, Jinping has recently said the country should focus on quality over speed, and even warned against ârecklessâ development projects.
He didnât skip geopolitics. Taiwan came up, as always. âCompatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are connected by blood that is thicker than water,â he said, adding that reunification is unstoppable.
That came just after China wrapped up its largest-ever military drills around the island. For two days, Peopleâs Liberation Army units surrounded Taiwan in a simulated blockade, with live-fire exercises and missiles splashing near the islandâs edges.
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