Xi Jinping says China will need to build reliable domestic production and supply chain
Beijing:
President Xi Jinping said on Saturday that China can no longer build on its previous economic development model, which was to depend on global exports, and must build a self-controlled, safe and reliable domestic production and supply system for ensure industrial and national security.
The just concluded plenary session of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CPC), led by Xi, adopted his proposals to develop the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025).
As the 14th Five-Year Plan envisions a massive overhaul of the country’s domestic market to boost consumption to reduce China’s dependence on shrinking export markets, Vision 2035 envisions a long-term plan, reflecting Xi’s development vision. Politically, Xi’s Vision 2035 plan has sparked speculation that he could stay in power for the next 15 years.
Xi, 67, became the most powerful leader of the CCP after its founder Mao Zedong, serving as the CCP’s secretary general, army chief in addition to the presidency with the prospect of a life term.
A 2018 constitutional amendment removed the president’s two-year term limit, which would allow Xi to remain in power for life. His second term as president is due to end in 2022.
“We must not and cannot simply repeat the previous model, but we must strive to shape a new industrial chain to improve technological innovation and import substitution, which are at the heart of deepening the structural reforms of the country. supply side and the key to achieving high-quality development, ”Xi said in an article published in Qiushi’s, the official gazette of the CCP.
Xi said that “in order to ensure China’s industrial security and national security, we must build a self-controlled, safe and reliable domestic supply and production chain.”
“We must strive to have at least an alternative source for important products and supply channels to form a necessary industrial safeguard system,” Xi said.
China’s complete industrial chain played a key role during the COVID-19 pandemic in ensuring the availability of materials important for the prevention and control of the outbreak. However, the public health crisis has also exposed risks in the national supply chain and industrial chain, Xi said.
China’s status as a global factory has been affected by the decline of global markets and the trade war of US President Donald Trump.
