Monitoring Desk
BEIJING: President Xi Jinping vowed to boost China’s manufacturing capacity and not rely on foreign markets, state media reported on Monday.
Speaking at the annual meeting of the rubber-stamp parliament in the capital Beijing on Sunday, the president said China should be able to stand for itself.
“I’ve always said there are 2 critical areas for China: one is to protect our rice bowl, and the other is to develop a strong manufacturing sector,” the state-run People’s Daily quoted Xi as saying.
He said that as a great country of 1.4 billion people, China must rely on itself. It cannot depend on international markets to save it.
XI emphasizes increasing manufacturing amid US hostility
The statement, during a gathering with delegates representing China’s financially advanced Jiangsu province, belie concerns in capital over an increasingly hostile international environment and slowing growth at home.
As China’s ambitions in the technology sector have been hit with a series of restrictions by the US and its Western allies, Beijing has insisted more on the need to develop a self-reliant industry and shift away from imports for sectors perceived as crucial to national security, such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors.
The US has, in recent months, tightened sanctions on China’s chipmakers, citing national security concerns and the capacity for the technology to be used by the Chinese military.
