Global experts: President Xi's New Year address highlights people-centered governance, high-quality development

On the eve of the New Year, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered his 2026 New Year message. Addressing high-quality growth, technological innovation, cultural development, people's well-being, the Communist Party of China's self-governance, and China's foreign policy, Xi's speech presented a clear picture of China's governance philosophy: putting people first while pursuing sustained, high-quality development. 

The speech also conveyed China's commitment to working with the international community to address shared challenges and build a community with a shared future for humanity.

International observers praised Xi's New Year message, noting that it not only highlighted China's domestic priorities but also underscored its willingness to shoulder responsibilities as a major country, reflecting a development path rooted in inclusiveness, long-term planning, and global cooperation.

High-quality development

Robert Lawrence Kuhn, chairman of the Kuhn Foundation in the United States, said President Xi's New Year address managed, in just a few minutes, to present a comprehensive blueprint covering China's economy, science and technology, national defense, culture, people's well-being, and China's relations with the world.

"The biggest thing I took away from it and the key words were: high-quality development, new quality productive forces, science and technology innovation," Kuhn said in an interview with China Media Group.

Xi has long emphasized high-quality development rather than the traditional growth model driven by labor-intensive, energy-consuming industries. He has articulated a long-term vision of building China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful by the mid-21st century.

"How do you do that? If you just focus on short-term economic growth, just that, you won't get there. But President Xi sees it long-term. Therefore, he is looking forward decades. And to do that, you need high-quality development – particularly new quality productive forces, which will be the engines driving the future," Kuhn said.

Xi mentioned Chinese-made humanoid robots capable of performing kung fu kicks in his New Year speech. Kuhn noted that while such kicks may sound lighthearted, the underlying technology is extremely complex. These breakthroughs, he said, represent cutting-edge innovation and embody the new quality productive forces that will drive China toward its mid-century modernization goal: basically achieving socialist modernization by 2035.

Jorge Heine, former Chilean ambassador to China, said China continues to increase investment in innovation and key high-tech sectors. He noted that China's R&D spending has approached three percent of GDP, reflecting Xi's emphasis on how inventions and innovations have boosted new quality productive forces - an essential pillar of China's economic development.

Philip Laird, Vice Provost of Trinity Western University Global, said China's innovation capacity is rapidly advancing, with breakthroughs in digital technology, artificial intelligence, green energy, advanced manufacturing, electric vehicles, and space science. He noted that Xi's address highlighted innovation as the primary driver of development, laying a solid foundation for China's long-term competitiveness and sustainable growth.

People-centered development

President Xi's New Year address not only highlighted the pivotal role of technological innovation in driving China's high-quality development but also emphasized a people-centered approach, reflecting the government's commitment to improving people's well-being and quality of life.

Ronnie Lins, executive director of the Brazil-China Research and Business Center, said he was impressed by the achievements China made during the 14th Five-Year period (2021–2025). He said that over the past five years, China has not only achieved both scale and stability in development, with GDP expected to reach about 140 trillion yuan ($20 trillion) despite global uncertainties, but has also focused on people-centered development. He added that this demonstrated that Chinese modernization prioritizes environmental protection, quality of life, and social well-being, not just economic expansion.

"President Xi's address is compelling because it vividly connects national goals with everyday family life," Lins said. He noted that major concepts, such as Chinese modernization and common prosperity, were translated into concrete livelihood measures, including childcare subsidies, age-friendly community upgrades, and protections for workers in new forms of employment, clearly reflecting a people-centered development philosophy.

Kamel Mansari, publishing director of the French-language daily Le Jeune Independant in Algeria, said Xi's speech clearly demonstrated China's remarkable economic achievements. With GDP expected to reach around 140 trillion yuan, he said the scale and weight of China's economy are striking. He added that China is rolling out more policy measures to boost domestic and international economic activity, including advancing the island-wide special customs operations of the Hainan Free Trade Port.

Carlos Uriarte Sanchez, president of the Pan-European Union of Spain, said China has made impressive progress over the past five years, achieving continuous breakthroughs in technological innovation and remaining at the global forefront.

He also praised China's efforts in combating climate change and advancing a green, sustainable economy, noting that initiatives such as the Belt and Road have enhanced connectivity among countries and strengthened people-to-people exchanges.

Four global initiatives reflect China's global vision

Against the backdrop of growing global uncertainty and turbulence, experts said Xi's New Year address also demonstrated China's diplomatic sincerity and sense of responsibility as a major country.

Lins noted that Xi's pledge for China to "continue to embrace the world with open arms" reflects a strategic vision centered on cooperation, dialogue, and win-win outcomes. He said the four global initiatives proposed by President Xi – on development, security, civilization, and governance – form a coherent framework to reduce conflict, build consensus, and offer constructive solutions to complex global challenges.

Mansari said today's world is marked by instability and disorder, making the establishment of a fair and just international order particularly urgent, especially for developing countries. He said China, together with global partners, is working to move beyond the "law of the jungle" mentality and promote a more equitable international system.

Kuhn added that although the four global initiatives proposed by President Xi address broad issues such as multilateralism, international law, and cooperation among sovereign states, he consistently places people at the center. In Xi's view, governance should not be limited to interactions among national leaders; it must ultimately translate into tangible benefits for ordinary people.

Kuhn noted that whether it's China's large-scale infrastructure projects or efforts to promote international people-to-people exchanges, many of President Xi's major policies ultimately aim to serve the people. "Throughout President Xi's policies domestically and internationally, you always see a people-centered approach to be the most critical," said Kuhn.