Ringing in 2025, China vows to bring more smiles to its people

China

Ringing in 2025, China vows to bring more smiles to its people

2025-01-01 11:57 Last Updated At：01-02 00:47

On New Year's Eve, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered his 2025 New Year address, featuring a promise to bring more smiles to the Chinese people.

While delivering his annual New Year message on Tuesday, President Xi said the concerns of the people about jobs and incomes, elderly and child care, education and medical services are always on his mind.

During his tours around China in 2024, Xi visited ordinary people to learn about their lives, from their incomes and housing conditions to healthcare, children's education and elderly care services.

"Of all the jobs in front of us, the most important is to ensure a happy life for our people. Every family hopes that their children can have a good education, their seniors can enjoy good elderly services, and their youngsters can have more and better opportunities. These simple wishes are our people's aspirations for a better life," Xi said in the address.

According to China's Ministry of Finance, 70 percent of the government expenditure in 2024 went toward ensuring the people's well-being.

A batch of effective measures were released throughout the year to improve people's lives. Renovations of over 50,000 old urban residential communities began in 2024. Tens of millions of people across China benefited from a multi-billion-dollar consumer goods trade-in program. And the lowering of mortgage interest rates helped 50 million households, equivalent to around 150 million people.

In the first three quarters of 2024, nationwide per capita disposable income stood at 30,941 yuan (around 4,178 U.S. dollars), an increase of 5.2 percent over the previous year.

Facing the challenges of an aging population, with more than one-fifth of China's citizens now aged over 60, the central government in 2024 allocated 300 million yuan to support elderly meal assistance programs nationwide while additional initiatives led to the installation of 358,000 in-home care beds.

"We should work together to steadily improve social undertakings and governance, build a harmonious and inclusive atmosphere, and settle real issues, big or small, for our people. We must bring more smiles to our people and greater warmth to their hearts," said Xi in the New Year address.

He called on the whole country to work together for the Chinese modernization drive and extended his best wishes to the Chinese people.

"Dreams and wishes may be far, but they can be fulfilled with dedicated pursuit. On the new journey of Chinese modernization, everyone is a key actor, every effort counts, and every ray of light shines," he said. "Let us greet the new year with hope. May our great country enjoy harmony and prosperity! May all your dreams come true! May you all have a new year of happiness and peace!"

Iranian FM expects China to play bigger role in Middle East peace process

2025-01-04 13:52 Last Updated At：14:07

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi said that China has the credibility and goodwill to help broker a lasting peace in the Middle East, and expects it to play a bigger role in the region's peace process.

Araghchi visited China from Dec 27 to 28, 2024, and held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing.

In an interview with China Media Group (CMG) on Dec 28, Araghchi shared his thoughts on China's emerging role as a mediator in the Middle East, including its efforts to broker a reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

On March 10, 2023, in a joint statement released with China in Beijing, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced that they had reached an agreement to reopen their embassies and diplomatic missions within two months, marking a milestone in the thawing of their relations.

"It has been more than a year (since the reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran). The biggest achievement may be that Iran and Saudi Arabia have started a good process of restoring relations, and both sides are satisfied with the restoration of relations. The restoration of relations has brought benefits to both sides, and this (trend) is still continuing. The two sides have established a good relationship, and (related efforts) are still continuing. Of course, there is still a lot of untapped potential in Iran-Saudi relations, and the restoration of relations between the two countries is a gradual, slow but continuous process. We thank China for its efforts in this regard, and we know that China's help is full of goodwill and the effect is very good," said Araghchi. Araghchi also shared his expectations for China's role in the Middle East peace process in the future.

"We trust China, and we see China's goodwill. China maintains extensive economic and trade relations with all countries in the region, and maintains good and constructive relations with all countries. China is a respected and trustworthy country. I believe that such credibility can allow China to play a political role in the Middle East to help regional countries resolve differences and help them find a peaceful solution. Iran thanks China for its contribution and is willing to continue to cooperate with China," he said.