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E-mail China.org.cn, March 17, 2025
Economic Daily:
We have noticed that the government work report reviews the hard-won achievements of the past year through the dual lenses of "stability" and "progress." Could you provide further interpretation? Thank you.
Shen Danyang:
I'll answer this question. Over the past year, China has faced both challenges and achievements, with the achievements being particularly inspiring. This morning, Premier Li Qiang highlighted these accomplishments through the dual lenses of "stability" and "progress" in the government work report. While the report broadly covered key achievements, space constraints limited detailed elaboration on each success. Here, I'd like to highlight three notable points to further supplement the highlights of last year's government work.
The first notable point is the rebound and upward momentum in the economy. In the second and third quarters of last year, China's economic operations faced significant downward pressure due to various domestic and international factors. Following decisive decisions made at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on Sept. 26, the State Council fully implemented a package of incremental policies. This led to a significant recovery in the economic growth in the fourth quarter, with its growth rate reaching 5.4% and contributing to an annual growth rate of 5%. The GDP rose to 134.9 trillion yuan, exceeding the 130 trillion yuan mark for the first time. Globally, this growth rate not only surpassed the world average of about 3% and the overall pace of emerging markets and developing economies but also outpaced the growth rate of the U.S., Germany and Japan. Among the world's top four major economies, China maintained the highest growth rate. China's contribution to global economic growth remains around 30%, continuing to be a significant engine for the world's economic growth. As the saying goes, "One does not know the difficulty until one has experienced it." Such a rate of economic growth, combined with this rebound momentum, is truly remarkable and even more precious.
Second, the development of new quality productive forces has significantly accelerated. In terms of scientific and technological innovation, the report highlighted major achievements such as the "Chang'e-6" mission and the Mengxiang ocean drilling vessel. In fact, there are many more examples like these. For instance, China's domestically developed third-generation superconducting quantum computer, Origin Wukong, has begun operating, and the China-standard high-speed train prototype capable of reaching a speed of 450 kilometers per hour has completed both its design and manufacturing phases. China reached 11th position in the Global Innovation Index, 2024 rankings, making it one of the fastest 10-year climbers. In terms of industrial development, high-tech industries such as aerospace and electronic communications have witnessed rapid expansion. Meanwhile, there has been further enhancement in innovation capability within sectors like high-end equipment and artificial intelligence. Last year, the added value of the high-tech manufacturing industry increased by 8.9%, while that of the equipment manufacturing industry rose by 7.7%. These growth rates were 3.1 and 1.9 percentage points higher, respectively, than the overall growth rate of industries above designated size.
Third, significant strides have been made to ensure and improve the people's wellbeing. Last year, numerous measures to enhance people's livelihoods were introduced and implemented. Some were highlighted in the government work report, while others were not included due to space constraints. For example, in the area of education, the standard of living subsidies for students from economically disadvantaged families in compulsory education were raised, benefiting almost 20 million students nationwide. For social security, the basic pension for retirees rose by 3%, and special one-time living subsidies were provided to more than 11 million in need. Regarding housing, nearly 2 million units of resettlement housing were either built or delivered. In terms of consolidating the gains of poverty elimination, efforts to expand work-as-relief programs were intensified, enabling more than 33 million people who have been lifted out of poverty to secure employment. Notable progress was made in relation to efforts to improve people's wellbeing.
I'll conclude here due to time constraints, despite there being much more that could be discussed. Thank you.
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