Xi Jinping Announces Drive for ‘Chinese Modernization with High-Quality Development of the Population’
May 6, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a major address on May 5 to the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs 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.
President Xi returned to emphasize the decisive role that technology 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,” wrote Xinhua.
A Global Times article underscored that
“Friday’s meeting is of far-reaching importance as it reaffirmed the real economy as the focal point of China’s efforts in developing its economy.... The nation needs to take into consideration the new science and technology revolution....
“ ‘The message sent out at the meeting is clear: China won’t blindly follow a Western approach to modernization by deindustrialization,’ Dong Dengxin, director of the Finance and Securities Institute of the Wuhan University of Science and Technology, told the Global Times on Friday.”
