Xi Jinping delivered a Lunar New Year address on February 8, comparing China’s economy last year to a beautiful landscape: “the [economic] scenery here [in China] is uniquely beautiful” (“风景这边独好”).
On February 10, Guangming Daily published an editorial propaganda piece titled “Living Better Days!” aiming to substantiate the idea that China’s economic “scenery” in the best in the world. Here is a key paragraph from the piece:
“You see, we decisively implemented a transition from the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control phase [to an open society]. The bustling streets and the prosperity of markets tell us that we have come through that difficult period. Agricultural production has again reached new highs: the rumbling of machinery and the reaping of silver sickles proclaim that we have achieved twenty consecutive years of abundant harvests. The vitality of strategic emerging industries can be seen in [the country’s] continuous breakthroughs in technological innovation, in the rapid formation of new productive forces, and in the total export of the “three new industries” (electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar cells) having surpassing one trillion yuan (US$ 140 billion). Despite the continued global economic downturn, we have still sent out 17,000 China-Europe freight trains and generated 126 trillion yuan in total economic output. ‘The economic scenery on China’s side is uniquely the best’ – this is the declaration that we have sent out to the world.”
Source: Guangming Daily, February 10, 2024
https://news.gmw.cn/2024-02/10/content_37142995.htm