Lintao Zhang\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And while Beijing\u2019s priorities \u2013 and rhetoric \u2013 may echo those of years past, this time they are coming from a country that is starting to regain its swagger after being battered by its own Covid restrictions, a property sector crisis and by a tech war with the US. <\/p>\n
\u201cConfidence\u201d has been an unofficial buzzword of the weeklong event, which ends Tuesday. It was used nearly a dozen times during a press conference held by China\u2019s economic tsars on Thursday, splashed across state media coverage and included in a pointed reminder \u2013 that \u201cconfidence builds strength\u201d\u2013 during the closing lines of Li\u2019s nationally broadcast speech. <\/p>\n
That optimism might be more aspiration than reality. Many in China are looking to the future with uncertainty. They\u2019re more willing to save than spend, while young people are struggling to find jobs and feeling unsure whether their lives will be better than those of their parents. <\/p>\n
But unlike last year, the country is entering 2025 buoyed by the market-moving successes of Chinese firms and technology. And while Trump\u2019s return has Beijing concerned about economic risks, it\u2019s also eyeing opportunity for its own rise. <\/p>\n
This mood isn\u2019t just percolating in the halls of power. <\/p>\n
On the streets of the capital, gleaming homegrown electric vehicles weave through traffic, including those from carmaker BYD, which now goes toe-to-toe with Elon Musk\u2019s Tesla for global sales \u2013 a reminder of China\u2019s successful push to become a leader in green tech. <\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the box office record-smashing animation \u201cNe Zha 2\u201d and the breakout success of privately owned Chinese AI firm DeepSeek. Its large language model shocked Silicon Valley and upended Western assumptions about the costs associated with AI. <\/p>\n
In Beijing this week, \u201cyou can ask DeepSeek\u201d has been a playful and proud punchline in casual conversation. <\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, people may have been impacted by the US narrative that China is declining, that China has peaked,\u201d said Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University in Beijing. \u201cWe still have many difficulties. We still have many problems, of course, but it\u2019s not that we\u2019ve reached peak China.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cChina is developing quickly now and that\u2019s attracted international attention, especially from the United States,\u201d but that may not be a bad thing, said a medical graduate student surnamed Xia. \u201cTrump\u2019s increase on tariffs is competition \u2026 (and) if there\u2019s no competition maybe China\u2019s independent development is not sustainable.\u201d <\/p>\n
But even as Chinese officials seek to project confidence, international observers say the economic stimulus measures announced this week show Beijing is girding itself for major challenges to come. <\/p>\n
Premier Li alluded to that in his opening address. \u201cThe external environment is becoming more complex and severe, which may have a greater impact on the country\u2019s trade, science and technology and other fields,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
China doesn\u2019t want to deal with that volatility while also grappling with a weak economy at home. That\u2019s one reason why it\u2019s trying to boost consumption and spur growth, setting an ambitious expansion target of \u201caround 5%\u201d this year. Beijing is also aware that trade frictions mean the economy needs to rely less on exports. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is likely that Beijing has thought through the scenarios of Trade War 2.0, but whatever happens, it is clear that China\u2019s growth will have to rely more on domestic demand,\u201d said Bert Hofman, a professor at the East Asian Institute at the National University Singapore and former World Bank country director for China, in a note. <\/p>\n
Still, some analysts say Beijing\u2019s initiatives are short on details and much less aggressive than needed to rev up the economy and boost consumer confidence. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt adds up to a sense by the leadership that they want to refocus on growth and development, but still a desire to do only as much as necessary in terms of stimulus to get there,\u201d said Michael Hirson, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute\u2019s Center for China Analysis. <\/p>\n
Xi may also be balancing this goal with another concern: a need to save some firepower to support the economy if China faces \u201ca nasty four years dealing with Donald Trump,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n