On New Year's Eve, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered his annual New Year's speech from his office in Beijing. Xi described 2024 as an "extraordinary year" during which the country has made great strides forward in China's modernisation efforts.
The speech also included a pledge to bring more smiles to the Chinese people and to strive to create a better future for the world in the coming year.
"Real benefits" for people
Xi said people's concerns about jobs and income, elderly and child care, education and health services are always important to him.
During his travels across China in 2024, Xi visited ordinary people to learn about their lives - from their incomes and housing conditions to health care, children's education and elderly care services.
According to the Chinese Ministry of Finance, 70 percent of government spending in 2024 will be directed towards ensuring the welfare of the population.
During the year, a number of effective measures were published to improve people's lives. In 2024, the renovation of more than 50,000 old urban residential communities was launched. Tens of millions of people across China benefited from a multi-billion-dollar consumer goods exchange program. Mortgage interest rate reductions have helped 50 million households, equivalent to about 150 million people.
In the first three quarters of 2024, the national per capita disposable income was 30,941 yuan (about $4,178), an increase of 5.2 percent from the previous year.
Faced with the challenges of an ageing population, with more than one-fifth of Chinese citizens now over 60, the central government has allocated 300 million yuan in 2024 to support meal programmes for the elderly across the country. Other initiatives have led to the installation of 358,000 home care beds.
"Of all the tasks before us, the most important is to ensure a happy life for our people," Xi said in his speech.
"A great responsible country"
"In a world full of change and turmoil, China, as a responsible major country, actively supports the reform of global governance and deepens solidarity and cooperation among the countries of the Global South," Xi said in his speech.
In 2024, China's unwavering commitment to opening up to the world and mutually beneficial cooperation has brought wide opportunities for other countries in their quest for modernization.
China's major trading partners have increased from more than 140 countries and regions to more than 150 in the 12 months to 31 December, and citizens of 54 countries can now benefit from China's 240-hour visa exemption for transit.
In 2024, China engaged in partnership and friendship with the Global South. At a meeting to mark the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, Xi unveiled eight measures to promote Global South cooperation, which include training, youth exchange, economic development, free trade, agricultural cooperation, digital economy, green development and environmental protection.
Meanwhile, China has established five frameworks for cooperation with Arab states in the areas of innovation, finance, energy, economy and trade, and people-to-people exchanges. It has also deepened the coherence of development strategies with Latin American and Caribbean countries and further expanded cooperation with Pacific Island countries.
Also at the Beijing Summit of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, the creation of a comprehensive China-Africa community with a shared future for a new era was announced. China has thus committed itself to jointly promote modernization with Africa through ten partnership events over the next three years.
From pushing for the adoption of the first UN Security Council resolution on the Gaza ceasefire in March and signing the Beijing Declaration on Strengthening Palestinian Unity in July to launching the Friends of Peace group to resolve the Ukraine crisis with other countries in the Global South, China's pursuit of peaceful solutions through dialogue and consensus has stood out in 2024 amid rising geopolitical tensions and escalating global instability.
"China will work with all countries to promote friendship and cooperation, strengthen mutual learning among different cultures, and build a community with a shared future for all mankind," Xi pledged.