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Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized support for the country’s vulnerable elderly and youth in a New Year’s address that acknowledged the hardships faced by some of the 1.4bn-strong population.

XiHis speech comes after his economic planners have spent much of the past four years struggling to restore consumer confidence or address rising youth unemployment and slow wage growth.

In a televised speech on Tuesday night the 71-year-old leader, who spoke before a large crowd at the Great Wall, said the issues of jobs, income growth, care for the elderly, care of children, education and health care “always in my mind.”.

Xi said a July meeting of the leadership of the Chinese Communist party sounded a “clear call for further comprehensive deepening of reform”.

“Making people live happy lives is the main priority,” he said. “Every household hopes that children will receive a good education, the elderly will have good care services, and the young will have more opportunities to progress.”

China’s economywhich is the second largest in the world behind the US, recorded growth of 4.8 percent in the first nine months of the year, following Beijing’s official target of about 5 percent.

Weak sentiment and deflationary pressures follow a series of outbreaks, from the pandemic and a year-long slump in the property market, to Xi’s reassertion of the Communist Party’s control over major economies. swath of the Chinese business landscape.

Xi also repeated on Tuesday a thinly veiled warning about international support for Taiwan. China claims Taiwan’s sovereignty and has not ruled out using force if Taipei refuses to reunify indefinitely.

“The compatriots on both sides of the Strait are one family. Nothing can break our blood and blood ties, and nothing can stop the historical flow of national unity,” Xi said.

Xi increased state support for high-tech manufacturing and industry, increasing investment in electric vehicles, batteries, semiconductors and artificial intelligence, while continuing to develop critical Chinese-made technologies.

On Tuesday he highlighted China’s progress in technological self-reliance and achievements in areas including computer chips, AI and space exploration.

A series of policy easing measures announced by Beijing since September, including some support to the property and stock market, are seen as a sign that the Xi administration is shifting its focus to stimulating demand. in domestic.

Reflecting the changes, the World Bank last week revised its forecast for China’s GDP growth next year up by 0.4 percentage points to 4.5 percent.

However, China this year has been rocked by a spate of killings and stabbings that some experts blame on rising social conditions. Fan Weiqiu, a 62-year-old man, was sentenced to death last week after being found guilty of driving his car into a crowd in Zhuhai, southern China, in November, leaving at least 35 people dead. man died, the most serious murder in the country. a decade.

Ahead of a series of national holidays, Beijing began urging local governments to expand the delivery of seasonal cash handouts to people facing economic hardship, including young people. on without work.

Kelvin Lam, an economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said that while the handouts would not have a significant impact on the wider economy they could boost social stability and consumption in poor rural areas.

China’s economic outlook is further weakened by strained ties with the US.

Under President Joe Biden the US restricted China’s access to computer chips, restricted Chinese investment in the US and increased sanctions on Chinese companies doing business with Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Xi told Russian leader Vladimir Putin that “strategic coordination” between China and Russia continues to reach higher levels under their leadership, according to the new year’s message. reported Xinhua, the state news agency.

Additional reporting by Wenjie Ding in Beijing, Cheng Leng in Hong Kong and Kathrin Hille in Taipei