2020 to have 'milestone significance'

Xi lays out course for new year in address to nation

China's GDP is expected to edge close to 100 trillion yuan ($14.3 trillion) with the per capita figure reaching $10,000, President Xi Jinping said in his New Year's speech on Tuesday.

Xi highlighted the steady progress of the country's high-quality development in 2019 in his speech and extended his New Year's wishes for 2020.

"The year 2020 will be a year of milestone significance," Xi said, noting that the country will complete its task of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and secure a decisive victory in eliminating poverty.

About 340 impoverished counties and more than 10 million people were lifted from poverty in 2019. Xi vowed in his speech to do the same for all poverty-stricken rural residents and to eliminate poverty in all impoverished counties in 2020.

Saying China continues to embrace the world in 2019, Xi noted that the number of countries that China has established diplomatic relations with has reached 180. "We have friends all over the world."

Xi reiterated China's commitment to peaceful development, and said the country will unswervingly uphold world peace and promote common development.

Human history, like a river, runs forever, he said, witnessing both peaceful moments and great disturbances. "We are not afraid of storms and dangers and barriers."

China is willing to join hands with all countries in the world to jointly build the Belt and Road, to push forward the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and to make unremitting efforts for the creation of a beautiful future for humanity, he said.

Xi spoke of attending the celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the return of Macao Special Administrative Region to the motherland on December 20 and said Macao's success indicates that the principle of "one country, two systems" is fully applicable, achievable and popular.

He extended his best wishes to compatriots of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and said, "In recent months, our hearts have been concerned about the situation in Hong Kong."

"Without a harmonious and stable environment, how can people live in peace and enjoy their work?" he said.

"We sincerely hope for the best for Hong Kong and Hong Kong compatriots.

"Hong Kong's prosperity and stability is the wish of Hong Kong compatriots and the expectation of the people of our motherland."

Xi spoke of several significant achievements during 2019, such as China's lunar probe Chang'e 4 landing on the far side of the Moon, the launch of the Long March 5 Y3 rocket, the opening of Beijing Daxing International Airport and the commercial application of 5G technology.

He said coordinated regional development further accelerated in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta.

Behind China's development in all sectors is its continuous reform and opening-up, Xi said, citing several examples of progress, from reform of Party and government institutions to the establishment of Free Trade Zones, from cuts of more than 2 trillion yuan in tax and other miscellaneous fees to lower costs for medicine and cheaper and faster internet connections.

While praising the country's steady progress in the reform of national defense and military systems in 2019, Xi mentioned the first domestically built aircraft carrier commissioned two weeks ago in Hainan province.

Xi's heart is also with those ordinary people whose deeds touched him.

In his speech, he mentioned a number of ordinary names, including Zhang Fuqing, who has kept a low profile despite the great contributions he has made to the nation, and Huang Wenxiu, who dedicated her youth and life to poverty alleviation.

He also mentioned his inspection tour and his interactions with people from all walks of life, including the ethnic Derung people in mountainous area of Yunnan province and villagers of Xiadang township in Fujian province. All of them were poverty-stricken and were lifted from poverty last year.

President Xi Jinping delivers his New Year's speech from his office in Beijing. Xi highlighted the steady progress of the country's high-quality development in 2019 in his speech and extended his New Year's wishes for 2020.