President Xi: China's GDP To Exceed $15.4 Trillion in 2020

China's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to exceed US$15.38 trillion in 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in Beijing Thursday when delivering a New Year speech to ring in 2021.

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"China is the first major economy worldwide to achieve positive growth, and its GDP in 2020 is expected to step up to a new level of US$15.4 trillion," he said, highlighting other significant achievements over the last year.

"Our country has seen a good harvest in grain production for 17 years in a row. It has seen breakthroughs in scientific explorations like the Tianwen-1 (Mars mission), Chang'e-5 (lunar probe), and Fendouzhe (deep-sea manned submersible)."

Xi also mentioned that his country managed to establish itself as a "moderately prosperous society in all respects" once extreme poverty has been eradicated.

"We launched the final assault on the fortress of entrenched rural poverty and cracked this 'hardest nut'... China has eradicated extreme poverty for the nearly 100 million rural people affected, and all the 832 impoverished counties have shaken off poverty."

Xi also pointed out that 2020 was an "extraordinary year" in which Chinese solidarity and resilience were notorious during the fight against the pandemic.

"From medical workers to the people's army, from scientific researchers to community workers, from volunteers to those who built the projects, from seniors to youths born after the 1990s and 2000s, many people fulfilled their missions at the cost of their lives and protected humanity with sincere love," he stressed.

"Greatness is forged in the ordinary. Heroes come from the people. Every person is remarkable!... We salute all the ordinary heroes! "

Finally, the Chinese President recalled that the 14th Five-Year Plan has already been formulated and will establish a new pattern for high-quality development.