Xi: Long-term view key for economy

President Xi Jinping called on Saturday for a long-term perspective to deal with the current difficulties, risks and challenges facing China's economy and to boost confidence in the country's development.

The country's huge economic potential is unchanged despite the challenges ahead, and the government has numerous policy tools to promote economic development, he said.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while joining political advisers from the economic sector at a panel discussion during the third session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

He stressed that it is necessary to take active measures to enhance confidence in the whole of society, and particularly among market players, and to consolidate China's economic stability and good long-term development.

Xi pointed out that China's economy faces great pressure due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, along with many other structural, systematic and periodic problems.

China also faces a great number of international challenges including the world economic recession, the sharp decrease in global trade and investment, global financial market turbulence, restrictions on global travel, setbacks to economic globalization, the protectionism of some countries and rising geopolitical risks, Xi said.

China has to pursue its development in a more unstable and uncertain world, he added.

Xi expressed confidence in China's economic growth, saying that the country has the largest industrial system in the world and a great productive capacity.

China has more than 170 million workers who have received a college education or have professional skills, and the country also has a huge domestic market of 1.4 billion people, including 400 million people in the middle-income group, Xi noted.

China's development will focus more on satisfying domestic market demand and the country will speed up building a complete system for domestic demand, Xi said.

He stressed the importance of promoting scientific innovation, accelerating the development of strategic industries including the digital economy, intelligent manufacturing and new materials for people's daily life and health, and creating more engines to drive economic growth.

Noting that protectionism is rising globally, Xi said China chooses to stand on the correct side of history by upholding multilateralism, promoting development through win-win cooperation and promoting the building of an open world economy.

During the discussion, Xi reaffirmed the CPC's solemn promise to lift all of the country's poor people out of poverty by the end of this year.

The government will take more measures to stabilize employment, guarantee the basic livelihood of the poor, help small and medium-sized enterprises get over difficulties, stabilize food production, ensure the stable supply of coal, electricity, gasoline and natural gas, maintain the stability of industrial chains and supply chains, and ensure the supply of public services at the grassroots level, Xi said.

He highlighted the importance of food security, saying that the stable supply of food contributed greatly to the country's stability in the face of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Yang Chengzhang, a political adviser and chief economist at Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, said that Xi's speech has strengthened his confidence in the face of external challenges.

"The COVID-19 pandemic will not reverse the trend of economic globalization," he said, adding that China has the capacity to improve its economy, given the country's huge domestic market and its complete industrial chains.

China has a great potential for innovation, and new types of business will emerge after the pandemic, said Robin Li, chairman and CEO of leading Chinese search engine Baidu Inc.

"China needs to build up its strength in developing key technologies and platforms in order to improve its science and technology security," said Li, who is also a member of the 13th CPPCC National Committee.