Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a major address on Friday to the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs (CCFEA) of China’s Communist Party, in which he “stressed speeding up the construction of the country’s modern industrial system backed by the real economy and advancing Chinese modernization with support from the high-quality development of the population,” Xinhua reported.
Xi stated that “the principal position of enterprises in sci-tech innovation should be ensured with institutional arrangements” – meaning government support – and that success would be achieved by “making full use of the advantage of the super-sized market.” He also place special emphasis on facing and solving the demographic problems that are before China. “China is currently experiencing a trend of birthrate decline, population aging, and differentiation in regional population growth,” Xinhua reported. To deal with this, President Xi stated that “population development is a vital issue related to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and efforts must be made to improve the overall population quality to support Chinese modernization.” This includes stabilizing the labor force participation rate and improving the efficient use of human resources.
Xi returned to emphasize the decisive role that technological plays in economic development. “China should seize opportunities presented by the new scientific and technological revolution, such as artificial intelligence, adapt to the requirements of harmonious coexistence between human and nature, maintain and strengthen its advantages of a complete industrial system and strong supporting capacity, promote the efficient aggregation of global innovation factors, and boost the intelligent, green, and integrated development of industries,” Xinhua reported.
