General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to enhance consumption capacity, improve consumption conditions, and innovate consumption scenarios to fully unleash consumption potential. This year, a series of pro-consumption policies have been implemented and have shown effective results. The consumer market has generally maintained steady growth, with accelerated innovation in consumption patterns, continuous upgrading of consumption structure, and constant optimization of the consumption environment. The consumer market is vibrant, injecting strong impetus into high-quality economic development. As the year draws to a close, China's consumer market is full of vitality. Home appliances, automobiles, and home furnishings have seen a new wave of upgrades, driving sales of related products to over 1 trillion yuan. The annual express delivery volume has exceeded 150 billion pieces for the first time, indicating booming online consumption. The nation has seen 15.185 million new types of consumer goods, with the total exceeding 200 million, making consumption supply richer and more diverse, better meeting the people's needs for a better life. Data from the National Information Center shows that in the first 11 months, multiple consumption indexes showed an upward "acceleration." The offline consumption heat index increased by 6.2% year-on-year, and the living service consumption heat index increased by 18.3% year-on-year, with 12 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities experiencing growth rates exceeding 20%. Consumption connects the macro economy on one end and thousands of households on the other, serving as a crucial engine for economic growth. Addressing issues such as insufficient effective demand, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized that the focus of economic policies should shift more towards benefiting people's livelihoods and promoting consumption. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed to improve the long-term mechanism for expanding consumption, reduce restrictive measures, reasonably increase public consumption, and actively promote the "first-store economy." During his numerous domestic inspection tours this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping also made a series of important instructions and deployments regarding the continuous expansion of consumption. In Hunan, he pointed out the need to transform natural landscapes and cultural customs into the lasting charm of the tourism industry. In Gansu, he proposed promoting the deep integration of culture and tourism. In Hubei, he emphasized the need to create high-quality cultural and tourism brands and routes, and cultivate the cultural tourism industry into a pillar industry. This year, a series of pro-consumption and pro-livelihood policies and measures have been intensively introduced. Approximately 150 billion yuan in ultra-long-term special government bonds were allocated to support trade-ins of consumer goods; the first policy to promote the high-quality development of service consumption was introduced, driving a comprehensive upgrade of service consumption; efforts were made to stimulate the vitality of the ice and snow economy and actively cultivate new consumption growth points; focus was placed on improving and expanding elderly care, childcare, and domestic services to better meet the diverse and high-quality consumption needs of the people. The "policy mix" has precisely targeted efforts, leading to an improving trend in the consumer market, with new scenarios, new formats, and new models continuously emerging. This includes "time-travel" tours along Beijing's Central Axis; experiencing smart running tracks and AI gyms in various sports parks in Shenzhen; and embracing green, healthy, and smart consumption in Shanghai's newly opened "sustainable commercial complex." This year, new consumption models such as live-streaming e-commerce and instant retail have accelerated their development. From January to November, China's online retail sales exceeded 14 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%. The number of new stores introduced in the five international consumption center cities continues to increase, and the "first-store economy" remains active. The consumption structure continues to upgrade. Service consumption in areas like travel and culture and tourism is vibrant, driving the improvement and innovation of various industries such as catering, accommodation, and cultural and creative products. In the first three quarters, the proportion of residents' service consumption expenditure reached 47%, an increase of nearly one percentage point compared to the same period last year. From January to November, service retail sales increased by 6.4% year-on-year, 3.2 percentage points higher than the growth rate of commodity retail sales during the same period. The pace of upgrading from commodity consumption to service consumption has further accelerated. The consumption environment is continuously optimized. Within a 15-minute walking radius, "home-side" facilities such as express delivery, laundry, and sports and leisure continue to be fully equipped. Currently, China has built 4,335 "15-minute convenient living circles," serving nearly 107 million community residents. Channels for agricultural products to go from villages to cities and consumer goods to go from cities to villages have become faster and more convenient. As of now, China has built nearly 3,000 county-level e-commerce public service centers and logistics and express delivery centers, with over 100 million express parcels entering and leaving rural areas daily, making the "micro-circulation" of the urban and rural economy increasingly smooth. From January to November this year, China's total retail sales of consumer goods approached 45 trillion yuan, with consumption remaining the main driving force of economic growth. The recently held Central Economic Work Conference placed "vigorously boosting consumption, improving investment efficiency, and expanding domestic demand in an all-round way" at the top of the nine key tasks for next year. The conference made a series of deployments around vigorously boosting consumption. These include implementing special actions to boost consumption, strengthening and expanding the "two-new" policies, innovating diversified consumption scenarios, expanding service consumption, promoting the development of the cultural tourism industry, and actively developing the first-store economy, ice and snow economy, and silver economy. With stable growth and new increments, the vibrant consumer market will continuously inject momentum into China's high-quality economic development.
President Xi Jinping attended the ceremony celebrating the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland and the inauguration of the sixth-term government of the Macao Special Administrative Region on the 20th, and delivered an important speech. People from all walks of life in Hong Kong and Macao said that President Xi's speech was inspiring and injected strong confidence and strength into Hong Kong and Macao to better fulfill the important mission of "One Country, Two Systems" practice in the new era. People from all walks of life in Macao said that under President Xi's care and concern, today's Macao enjoys social stability and harmony, prosperous economic development, people living in peace and contentment, and diverse cultures complementing each other. President Xi Jinping's important speech further inspired everyone to unite and actively integrate into the nation's overall development, striving to create a new situation for "One Country, Two Systems" practice with Macao characteristics. People from all walks of life in Macao said that President Xi Jinping's ardent hopes for Macao have greatly motivated all sectors in Macao. They will advance with more determined steps, take on responsibilities, and contribute to the construction of Chinese modernization. People in Hong Kong said that the nation is the strongest backing for Hong Kong and Macao to maintain prosperity and stability, and all sectors in Hong Kong will work together to make greater contributions to realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Today (December 22), the People's Daily published a commentator's article titled "Continue to Advance the Practice of 'One Country, Two Systems' Steadily and Far - On Studying and Implementing President Xi Jinping's Important Speech at the Ceremony Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Macao's Return to the Motherland."
The Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the CPC Central Committee and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council yesterday (December 21) issued an article titled "Leading the Steady and Enduring Practice of 'One Country, Two Systems' with Macao Characteristics." The article pointed out that President Xi Jinping's attendance at the ceremony celebrating the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland and his inspection of the Macao Special Administrative Region fully reflect President Xi Jinping's high affirmation of Macao's sustained good development, his deep care for the happy lives of Macao residents, and his meticulous guidance for Macao to create a better future. President Xi Jinping's visit made all sectors in Macao feel warm and greatly encouraged, triggering high attention and enthusiastic responses in the international community, and once again leading the practice of "One Country, Two Systems" with Macao characteristics.
The 13th session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress held its second plenary meeting on the morning of the 22nd at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Chairman Zhao Leji attended the meeting. The meeting heard a report by Peng Qinghua, Vice Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, on behalf of the Standing Committee's law enforcement inspection team, regarding the implementation of the Law on State-Owned Assets. The report proposed establishing and improving the entrusted agency mechanism for state-owned enterprises and state-owned capital, improving modern corporate governance, accelerating layout optimization and structural adjustment, improving basic management systems, improving state-owned capital income management, and improving the legal system. The meeting heard a report by Li Hongzhong, Vice Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, on behalf of the Standing Committee's law enforcement inspection team, regarding the implementation of the Yellow River Protection Law. The report proposed further consolidating efforts in Yellow River protection, carrying out in-depth water conservation and control, strengthening ecological protection and restoration in the Yellow River basin, intensifying the battle against pollution, continuously improving water and sediment regulation and disaster prevention and reduction capabilities, accelerating green and low-carbon transformation, and protecting and promoting Yellow River culture. The meeting heard a report by Hou Kai, Auditor General of the National Audit Office, entrusted by the State Council, on the rectification of problems found in the audit of the central budget implementation and other fiscal revenues and expenditures in 2023. The report introduced the deployment and effectiveness of audit rectification work in 2023, and the rectification of problems found in the audit. As of the end of September 2024, relevant localities, departments, and units had rectified problems involving over 538 billion yuan, formulated and improved over 1,300 rules and regulations, and held over 2,800 people accountable. The next step will be to further consolidate rectification responsibilities, make good use of accountability tools, draw lessons from experience, and timely improve systems, plug loopholes, and strengthen supervision. The meeting heard a report by Lan Fo'an, Minister of Finance, entrusted by the State Council, on the allocation and use of fiscal funds for disaster prevention, mitigation, and emergency management. The meeting heard a report by Liu Guohong, Vice Minister of Natural Resources, entrusted by the State Council, on cultivated land protection. The report proposed stabilizing the total cultivated land, ensuring 1.8 billion mu of cultivated land is genuinely maintained; improving the quality of cultivated land, strictly supervising law enforcement, adhering to systematic promotion, and strengthening sustainable utilization. The meeting heard a report by Liu Jinguo, Director of the National Supervisory Commission, on the work of rectifying unhealthy trends and corruption issues around the people. The report stated that since the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, national supervisory organs have investigated 768,000 cases of unhealthy trends and corruption issues among the people, disciplined 628,000 people, and transferred 20,000 people to procuratorial organs. It is necessary to further consolidate responsibilities of all parties, focus on improving the level of normalized and long-term rectification, and deepen special rectification in key areas. The meeting heard a report by Shen Chunyao, Director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, on the work of filing and review in 2024. The meeting reviewed a written report on Chairman Zhao Leji's visits to Portugal, Spain, and Greece. Vice Chairman Zheng Jianbang presided over the meeting.
With the approval of the CPC Central Committee, the first volume of "A History of the Communist Party of China, Volume III," compiled by the Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee, has been officially published by the CPC Party History Publishing House and is now available nationwide. The compilation of "A History of the Communist Party of China, Volume III" is an important political task entrusted by the CPC Central Committee to the Institute of Party History and Literature, following "A History of the Communist Party of China, Volume I" and "Volume II." General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the continuation of the Party's red family tree, giving numerous important instructions and specific guidance, which have provided correct direction and fundamental遵循 for the compilation work. The first volume of "A History of the Communist Party of China, Volume III" records the history of the Communist Party of China from the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee in December 1978 to the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee in June 1989. It contains approximately 420,000 words and 36 images, primarily showcasing how the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Deng Xiaoping as the chief representative, united and led the entire Party and people of all ethnic groups to profoundly summarize the historical experience since the founding of New China. Focusing on the fundamental questions of what socialism is and how to build socialism, they based themselves on China's national conditions, drew lessons from the experience and lessons of world socialist development, created Deng Xiaoping Theory, and successfully embarked on the historical process of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. The compilation of this book adheres to the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Important Thought of the "Three Represents," the Scientific Outlook on Development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. It strictly follows the Party's three historical resolutions, especially the "Resolution of the CPC Central Committee on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party's Centenary Struggle," deeply implements General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on the history of the Communist Party of China and his important speeches and instructions on Party history and literature work. It adheres to historical materialism and the correct view of Party history, accurately grasps the theme, main line, mainstream, and essence of the Party's historical development, fully incorporates the latest research achievements in Party history and Party theory, and strives to integrate political, ideological, academic, and vivid aspects. The publication and distribution of this book provide an authoritative and authentic text for correctly understanding the Party's history during the new period of reform and opening up and socialist modernization. It also serves as a new basic textbook for implementing the "Regulations on Party History Learning and Education Work" and promoting normalized and long-term Party history learning and education. It is of great significance for unifying the thoughts of the entire Party and society, consolidating strength, boosting morale, enlightening wisdom, further comprehensively deepening reform, and comprehensively advancing the building of a strong nation and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese modernization.
This year, China's investment in high-tech manufacturing has maintained rapid growth, continuously providing new growth momentum for the cultivation of new productive forces and high-quality economic development. Not long ago, the list of national advanced manufacturing clusters for 2024 was released. The list includes 35 clusters covering over 10 fields such as aerospace, marine engineering, agricultural machinery equipment, integrated circuits, and new materials. The covered regions include eastern areas like Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the Yangtze River Delta, as well as the Northeast and central and western regions. Among them, six provinces, including Gansu, Henan, and Heilongjiang, have achieved a breakthrough from zero in advanced manufacturing clusters. At the Luoyang Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, reporters saw a distribution map of the agricultural machinery equipment industry, centered in Luoyang, with over 300 agricultural machinery and component manufacturing enterprises spread around. A high-horsepower intelligent tractor can be completed from research and development to production and final assembly within the cluster. This year, China has accelerated the development of advanced manufacturing, promoting the manufacturing industry towards high-end, intelligent, and green development. In the first 11 months, investment in high-tech manufacturing increased by 8.2% year-on-year, 4.9 percentage points higher than the overall investment. Representative industries such as aerospace and equipment manufacturing, and electronic and communication equipment manufacturing saw investments increase by 35.4% and 8.8% year-on-year, respectively. With increased investment, both production and sales are booming. In November, the added value of high-tech manufacturing above designated size nationwide increased by 7.8% year-on-year, 2.4 percentage points higher than that of all industries above designated size. Since the beginning of this year, its growth rate has consistently been higher than that of all industries above designated size, with integrated circuit wafers and industrial robot output maintaining high growth rates of nearly 30%. At the same time, profits of high-tech manufacturing have continued to be higher than the average level of industries above designated size, becoming an important force supporting industrial profit growth.
Industrial revitalization is the top priority of rural revitalization. In recent years, some villages in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, have adapted to local conditions, developed characteristic industries, formed characteristic villages, and blazed their own paths to development. Let's look at the reporter's survey. The reporter arrived at Xingang Village on a weekend, where some fully equipped young riders were chasing and leaping on the professional cycling wave track. Playing a match on an 11-a-side standard football field, having a tennis match on a red clay court, or experiencing extreme skiing in a high-tech sports hall... Today, in Xingang Village, covering an area of 3.5 square kilometers, a complete range of sports venues attracts sports enthusiasts from all over. Why would these trendy sports venues appear in Xingang Village? This goes back a few years. At that time, the village had just completed the rectification of "low-end, scattered, and chaotic enterprises," freeing up large areas of land. However, Xingang Village is located in the "three-protection" area for the Liangzhu site cultural relic protection, farmland protection, and ecological protection, which placed strict requirements on the village's industrial planning and land use regulations. Combining the actual conditions of the Liangzhu site protection area and expert advice, Xingang Village embarked on a new exploration: developing the sports industry to lead villagers to common prosperity. The village introduced professional third-party operations, and has hosted nearly 700 large and small sports events and activities, attracting over 500,000 visitors. Last year, Xingang Village recruited rural professional managers nationwide, and the village's resources were further activated into study tour centers, children's playgrounds, rural banquets, and so on. Today, Xingang Village not only attracts a group of young people to start businesses here but also radiates and drives the development of the sports industry in three surrounding villages. It's not just Xingang Village; in recent years, Hangzhou has adapted to local conditions and created 200 characteristic villages. Meilin Village's entrepreneurship and public service integration, Xinyu Village's thousand-acre lotus pond research industry, Chun'an County's Wenping Village's high-speed rail economy injecting new formats, Lin'an Zhainan Village's photography and homestay industry, Tonglu Shen'ao Village's hundred-person, hundred-craft traditional ancient village - through the comprehensive and systematic reshaping of rural production, living, and ecology, these initiatives promote the high-quality development of future villages.
National Railway to implement new train operation map on January 5, 2025. Reporters learned from China State Railway Group that starting from 0:00 on January 5, 2025, the national railway will implement a new train operation map. After the adjustment, the national railway will operate 13,028 passenger trains, an increase of 230 trains from the current map; and 22,859 freight trains, an increase of 91 trains from the current map. Tickets for the newly added passenger trains will be gradually available for purchase starting today (December 22). 2025 Employment Aid Month special activity launched. The 2025 Employment Aid Month special activity, jointly organized by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the China Disabled Persons' Federation, was recently launched. During the activity, various regions will focus on assisting difficult-to-employ individuals and other workers in employment and entrepreneurship by establishing key assistance lists, conducting personalized guidance, and developing suitable job positions. All-China Federation of Trade Unions launches 2025 warm-hearted action. The All-China Federation of Trade Unions today (December 22) launched the 2025 warm-hearted action for the New Year's Day and Spring Festival period. Consolation teams will be formed to visit 31 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, going deep into grassroots and employee families to deliver warmth. Trade unions at all levels will focus on key groups for extensive visits and condolences, and promote the resolution of urgent and difficult issues faced by employees. Shenzhen Airport Port's single-day inbound and outbound flights set a historical record. According to Shenzhen Customs statistics, the number of inbound and outbound flights at Shenzhen Airport Port has exceeded 50,000 sorties this year, a year-on-year increase of 63%. The highest single-day number of inbound and outbound flights exceeded 200 sorties, setting a historical record; the number of inbound and outbound passengers has exceeded 5.3 million, a year-on-year increase of 104%, with the highest single-day passenger flow reaching 20,300 people, firmly ranking among the top airports nationwide.
Russia's Ministry of Defense stated on the 21st that the Russian army launched strikes against facilities providing energy support to Ukrainian military enterprises, military airport infrastructure, drone storage depots, and other targets, and intercepted dozens of drones. According to Russian media reports citing Russian government officials, the Ukrainian army has begun a gradual withdrawal westward from Kurakhove in the Donetsk region. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated on the 21st that Ukrainian forces engaged in over a hundred battles with Russian forces and repelled multiple Russian attacks. The Ukrainian Air Force stated on the same day that the Russian army launched one missile and 113 attack drones into Ukrainian territory. According to Ukrainian media reports, air raid sirens sounded multiple times in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the 21st. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held his annual press conference on the 21st, stating that the Russia-Ukraine conflict has had a severe impact on the European economy, and he called for a swift peaceful resolution to the crisis to enable the European economy to quickly escape the negative effects of sanctions against Russia.
According to Yemeni media reports, US and UK coalition forces launched airstrikes on the Yemeni capital Sana'a and Hodeidah Province from the night of the 21st to the early morning of the 22nd. The reports did not provide further information. The US Central Command stated that on the 21st, it conducted airstrikes on a missile storage facility and a command and control center in Houthi-controlled areas of Sana'a, Yemen, and shot down multiple Houthi drones and one anti-ship cruise missile. The US Central Command also issued a statement saying that on the 21st, a US F/A-18 fighter jet was accidentally shot down over the Red Sea by friendly fire from a US warship. Two pilots ejected from the aircraft, one of whom was injured, and an investigation is underway. According to US media reports, the incident occurred during a US airstrike against Houthi targets.
Israeli attacks continue, Israeli media report progress in ceasefire talks. According to Palestinian media reports, the Israeli Defense Forces launched fierce attacks on various locations in the northern Gaza Strip, including Kamal Adwan Hospital, on the 21st. According to a statement issued by the local health authorities on the same day, Israeli operations resulted in at least 21 deaths in the past day. The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) issued a statement on the 21st saying that after talks between the leaders of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Egypt on the 20th, they believed that the possibility of reaching a ceasefire agreement soon was "higher than ever" if Israel did not set new conditions. Israeli media reported today (December 22) that progress has been made in ceasefire talks, but a deal is not yet close. Strong earthquake strikes near Vanuatu again. A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu in the early hours of the 22nd, with a focal depth of about 50 kilometers and an epicenter west of Vanuatu's capital, Port Vila. There have been no reports of casualties or property damage so far. On the 17th of this month, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake occurred near Port Vila, which has confirmed over a dozen deaths and more than 200 injuries, with rescue efforts still ongoing.
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