President's New Year address shows depth of support for stability: experts

Chinese President Xi Jinping extended New Year greetings in an address delivered in Beijing on Saturday to ring in 2023. The New Year speech shows China's commitment to advancing global peace and stability, declaring a promising vision for the future and the leading role China will play in human development, overseas experts say.

Carlos Martinez, a British commentator and co-editor of Friends of Socialist China, said that Xi, in the address based on China's achievements including the country's extraordinary efforts to suppress COVID-19, highlighted in particular China's total commitment to regional and global peace and stability.

"The historical record testifies to this commitment: China resolutely upholds the principles of peaceful coexistence; it consistently opposes the use of unilateral sanctions; it never interferes in the political affairs of other countries; and it imposes its hegemony on nobody," he said.

Xi reiterated this profoundly humanistic vision, wishing peace and prosperity for the peoples of all countries, he said.

Lee Chang-ho, chairman of the Korea-China Exchange Promotion Committee, said that Xi's address declared the vision for the future and the leading role that China will play in human development.

"As the COVID-19 pandemic is changing the world paradigm, there are many difficulties but I was able to see the warm heart from Xi's speech that China puts the benefit and happiness of the people first. It puts an emphasis on national stability and cherishing the people," he said.

Through his speech, the Chinese people, as well as those who are friendly to China, will once again feel the potential of China's impact on world history and the hope to participate in China's development, Lee said.

The speech also indicated that China always opens the door to dialogue and showed that China is willing to make contributions to human development, Lee said.

'Putting people first'

Echoing Lee, Oleg Deripaska, a Russian industrialist, highlighted how Xi said "we have put the people first and put life first all along "as a consistent message since the arrival of COVID-19.

"Further implementation of the newly announced anti-COVID adjustment measures by China will help restore supply chains and eliminate logistics bottlenecks on the Sino-Russian borders thus easing trade," he said.

Deripaska noted that Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged New Year greetings on the last day of 2022. Deripaska said he looked forward to the two countries continuing to develop their cooperation on logistics and infrastructure networks.

Lim Tai Wei, an adjunct senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore's East Asian Institute, said that in his speech, Xi also highlighted the successful conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the CPC.

In emphasizing how dreams become reality, President Xi appears to have hinted at the future unfurling of China's destiny, Lim said, adding that Xi is putting in efforts to mobilize the hearts and minds of the Chinese people to achieve major projects advancing the country's development.

Betty Yuan, an adviser to Chinese for Peaceful Unification-Northern California, said that Xi's speech is inspiring especially with his encouragement for people to "build consensus through communication and consultation". "We overseas Chinese are in support of President Xi to work with one heart and stand in unity. We agree that we can draw strength from unity."

Martinez said that undoubtedly the Chinese people will make tremendous progress in 2023 toward common prosperity, socialist modernization, and the building of a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful.

Lia Zhu in San Francisco and Zhao Ruinan in Beijing contributed to this story.