中文
By Anthony Moretti
Lead: Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an inspirational New Year's address on Wednesday, setting an optimistic tone as the country prepares to launch its 15th Five-Year Plan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping set an inspirational tone as he delivered his 2026 New Year message to domestic and global audiences on Wednesday.
The message carried added weight as China prepares to adopt its 15th Five-Year Plan in 2026. We will explore that plan, but first, let's examine aspects of the president's speech.
The terms "high-quality development" and "innovation" were central to China's economic, scientific and technological endeavors throughout 2025. In assessing those areas, President Xi noted that breakthroughs in science, technology and homegrown chips have "turned China into one of the economies with the fastest-growing innovation capabilities." As a result, China is positioned to retain a prominent place as technology becomes ever more essential in people's lives.
The president encouraged his audience to also remember China's strides in areas such as robotics and space exploration in 2025. He added that "our economic strength, scientific and technological abilities, defense capabilities, and composite national strength all reached new heights" in 2025. Thus, the public should feel optimistic about what might be possible in 2026.
In examining China and international affairs, the president identified the four global initiatives he has put forward — the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative — as powerful examples of the country's commitment to securing a shared future for humanity, one that has peace and prosperity for all peoples at its core. These initiatives have garnered global acclaim, including at the United Nations, an organization that China sees as essential to global stability.
Perhaps other nations should take note of the unwavering support China has offered to the U.N. Noting that "China always stands on the right side of history," the president provided further evidence that optimism should be front of mind as the public and private sectors continue to promote positive relations between countries and regions worldwide.
Because history matters, the president also spoke of 2025 being a year in which China remembered the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. Throughout 2025, the Chinese people revisited those harrowing years in which Japanese militarism resulted in more than 35 million Chinese military and civilian casualties. A military parade in Tiananmen Square in early September served as the most symbolic commemoration. Memories of that time remain critical to understanding the psyche of the Chinese people and China's commitment to learning from the past and guaranteeing that what took place in the 1930s and the first half of the 1940s is never repeated.
Success in domestic and international sport has also been a trademark of modern China, and that success will be on display when the global community comes together in about five weeks for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. In his New Year's address, the president complimented participants from "Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao coming together in unity and acting in unison" at the National Games.
As mentioned above, 2026 is critical for the country as it marks the beginning of China's 15th Five-Year Plan. The president acknowledged that any successful effort must include solid planning and clear goals that will lead to more high-quality development and deepened reform. Multiple high-level meetings took place in the final months of 2025 to ensure sufficient understanding of the plan and what all government offices and leaders must do to guarantee that it is carried out in a dedicated and committed manner.
Tourists visit the Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 2, 2026. China's economy kicked off 2026 with robust momentum, as evidenced by bustling economic activity in the year's first days. [Photo by Zhang Tao/Xinhua]
President Xi sees the 15th Five-Year Plan as "a window of opportunity" to build on China's areas of strength, reinforce areas of weakness, remain steadfast in making innovation the catalyst for development and propel China confidently toward 2035, the year the country has targeted for basically achieving socialist modernization.
Of course, unexpected roadblocks will arise. For example, no one could have predicted a once-in-a-century global pandemic and a reckless endorsement of tariffs from certain nations occurring almost one on top of the other. Both events, the former a humanitarian crisis and the latter an economic crisis, hindered GDP growth in China and globally. Nevertheless, despite the callous disregard for free trade emanating from the West, China appears certain to reach GDP growth of about 5% in 2025, and multiple economists believe that same figure is a reasonable growth estimate for 2026. In fact, two economists at Goldman Sachs are even more bullish, contending that China could reach 6% growth this year.
These assessments confirm that the Chinese approach — maintaining fidelity to a plan while adjusting when circumstances necessitate, rather than thrashing about for solutions — engenders confidence in the nation's economy and political leadership. And, of course, the Chinese people are the biggest beneficiaries of this stability.
President Xi consistently emphasized that improving people's living standards remains a priority for the Party and the government. In his New Year's address, he proudly affirmed that "no issue of the people is too small; we care for every leaf and tend every branch in the garden of people's well-being."
Thus, we see how China will approach 2026. It seeks to expand its role as a hub where many of the world's most cutting-edge innovations—in technology, environmental solutions, business, AI, and beyond—are developed. It will affirm a commitment to developing the nation as a whole. It will endorse efforts at home and abroad to foster global peace. Finally, it will place the Chinese people's needs at the apex of all efforts.
These are achievable goals. In the coming year, as President Xi highlighted during the address, China will take solid steps to promote high-quality development, further deepen reform and opening up across the board, deliver prosperity for all, and write a new chapter in the story of the nation's miracle.
Anthony Moretti is an associate professor in the Department of Communication and Organizational Leadership at Robert Morris University. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Robert Morris University.
