surpassed its thermal power capacity for the first time in history, and China accounted for over half of newly installed renewable energy capacity worldwide.
—People’s wellbeing was ensured.
Per capita disposable income of residents increased by 6.1 percent, and the income gap between urban and rural residents continued to narrow. The gains of poverty elimination were consolidated and expanded, with per capita income in rural areas that have been lifted out of poverty growing by 8.4 percent. We increased subsidies for compulsory education, basic old-age insurance, and basic medical insurance and expanded the coverage of assistance and support. Over 66 million taxpayers benefited from an increase in the special additional deductions for individual income tax, which cover children nursing expenses, children’s education, and elderly care expenses. We redoubled efforts to renovate old urban residential compounds and develop government-subsidized housing, benefitting over 10 million households.
Looking back at 2023, we can see that as we faced an array of interwoven difficulties and challenges, China’s economy grew in a wave-like fashion amid twists and turns. Indeed, our achievements did not come easily.
Globally, the economic recovery was sluggish. Geopolitical conflicts became more acute, protectionism and unilateralism were on the rise, and the external environment exerted a more adverse impact on China’s development.
Domestically, owing to the impact of a three-year Covid-19 pandemic, many difficulties facing our economic recovery and development had yet to be resolved. While deep-seated, long-standing issues became more pronounced, many new developments and problems emerged. A drop in external demand coincided with a lack of domestic demand, and both cyclical and structural issues arose. Risks and potential dangers in real estate, local government debt, and small and medium financial institutions were acute in some areas. Some places were hit hard by natural disasters, such as floods, typhoons, and earthquakes. Under these circumstances, we faced considerably more dilemmas in making policy decisions and doing our work.
However, thanks to the concerted efforts of the entire nation, we accomplished the year’s development goals and embraced positive changes on many fronts. In particular, we acquired a deeper understanding of the laws governing economic work in the new era and gained valuable experience in overcoming major
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