People across China are bidding farewell to 2024 and set to enter 2025 with various activities.
In Xilingol League of Inner Mongolia in north China, the snow-covered grasslands of Taipusi Banner have turned into a spectacular stage where visitors watch 260,000 horses galloping through the snow.
In Horgos, a border city in northwest China's Xinjiang, herders, mostly from Kazakh ethnic group, greet the New Year with traditional games of horse racing, goat grabbing, and girl-chasing featuring a young man on horseback chasing a galloping mounted young lady. There are also tug-of-war on snow and horseback wresting.
In Yinjiang, a Tujia and Miao autonomous county in Guizhou of southwest China, Tujia people prepare their traditional delicacy of rice cake to greet 2025. This cherished food symbolizes their best wishes and hopes for the new year.
According to local villagers, their rice cakes are of two colors: red and white. The white ones are mainly for rituals to commemorate their ancestors, while the red ones are for festivals and celebrations, standing for good luck.
"We Tujia people greet the New Year with these rice cakes, which symbolize a prosperous life," said Tan Guangshe, a villager of Muling.
Chinese to enter New Year with various activities
China has experienced remarkable technological and industrial innovations over the past year, with new quality productive forces transforming production and lifestyles, said Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.
Since last year, the term "new quality productive forces" has emerged as a key concept in China's economic discourse. Innovations such as AI large models, humanoid robots, and domestically developed original drugs are not only gaining traction within the country but are also making waves internationally.
Speaking at the press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing third session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), Zheng emphasized that these technological breakthroughs are accelerating amid external pressures, showcasing China's progress in independent innovation.
"Integrated circuits have drawn significant attention, with both production and exports hitting historic highs, as an increasing number of products are now powered by 'China-made chips.' Large-scale AI models are vying for dominance and emerging as a new force, industrial robot density has risen markedly, humanoid robots are accelerating their practical application, and a wave of internationally competitive, homegrown original drugs continues to break new ground. These advancements underscore a clear truth: the greater the external pressure and containment efforts against us, the more they fuel our drive to accelerate self-reliant innovation," said Zheng.
China's industrial upgrading is also accelerating, helping to usher in economic and social development, according to the official.
"Last year, China's high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing sectors accounted for 16.3 percent and 34.6 percent of the value added in industrial enterprises above the designated size (those with main business revenue greater than 20 million yuan or more, or about 2.7 million U.S. dollars), respectively. Meanwhile, electromechanical products such as smartphones and computers made up nearly 60 percent of total exports. The new energy vehicle (NEV) industry, honed over a decade of dedicated development, has now established a fully integrated industrial chain. These developments highlight the accelerating shift of China's industrial chains toward the medium- and high-end," he said.
China's technological breakthroughs reshape economic, social development: official
