Xi Jinping says China's economy faces many challenges

Chinese President Xi Jinping acknowledged the country's difficulties in an article written ahead of next week's National People's Congress.

Specifically, on February 28, the Chinese Communist Party's Cau Thi newspaper published an article by President Xi Jinping, mentioning the difficulties and challenges facing the economy and his assessment of development potential.

"At present, the adverse impact of changes in the external environment has increased and the Chinese economy still faces many difficulties and challenges," Xi Jinping acknowledged.

An image of President Xi Jinping is shown on February 27 at the Museum of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai.

"At the same time, it must be acknowledged that China's economic fundamentals remain solid with many advantages, strong resilience and huge potential. The conditions supporting long-term growth and the overall positive trajectory have not changed," President Xi Jinping assessed.

The article comes ahead of a major political event in Beijing next week. According to AFP, China will convene the "two sessions" next week, where leaders will announce important policy plans and priorities.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the third session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, similar to the Fatherland Front) will officially open on March 4. At the same time, the third session of the National People's Congress (NPC, the Chinese parliament) will also open on March 5.

The two meetings, held separately but at the same time, collectively known as the "two sessions", have attracted attention from both inside and outside the country, as they are where China will announce important policies. This session is also an important milestone as it marks the final year of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025).

Premier Li Qiang is expected to set economic growth targets for 2025 and delegates will also present plans to protect the economy from the threat of tariffs from US President Donald Trump, observers said.

In a related development, the Chinese Foreign Ministry on February 28 announced its strong opposition to the US's threat to impose an additional 10% tax and warned that it would take all necessary measures to protect its legitimate interests, according to Reuters.

On February 4, the US began imposing a 10% tariff on goods imported from China and on February 27, President Trump said he would impose another 10% tariff on Beijing starting March 4. Washington accused China of continuing to import the addictive drug fentanyl into the US.

Beijing criticized the US for using the fentanyl issue to impose tariffs and "blackmail", causing serious impacts and threatening dialogue and cooperation between the two sides in the field of controlled drugs.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ong-tap-can-binh-noi-kinh-te-trung-quoc-dang-doi-mat-nhieu-thach-thuc-185250228155912185.htm