Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed support for the country’s vulnerable elderly and youth in a new year address that acknowledged the strains on some of the 1.4bn-strong population. Xi’s speech comes after his economic planners have for much of the past four years struggled to restore consumer confidence or address rising youth unemployment and slow wage growth.

Weeks before Trump takes office, the Chinese leader is seeking to shore up confidence that China’s economy can withstand threats.

Chinese President Xi Jinping once again stated that no one can stop the reunification of China with Taiwan. He called this event inevitable, reports Reuters. "The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family.

"The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family," Mr Xi said in a speech televised on China's state broadcaster CCTV. “No one can sever our family bonds, and no one can stop the historical trend of national reunification.”

China's 2024 gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to exceed 130 trillion yuan ($17.8 trillion), President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday in his New Year's address, adding that the country would implement more proactive policies to promote growth in 2025.

The Chinese leader projected confidence amid Beijing’s economic struggles and ahead of the inauguration of Donald Trump, set to take a hard line on China.

China’s dispute with Taiwan will most likely not lead to a “boots on the ground invasion”, claims Spectator Australia’s ‘Fire at Will’ podcast host Will Kingston.

No one can stop China's "reunification" with Taiwan, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his New Year's speech on Tuesday, laying down a clear warning to what Beijing regards as pro-independence forces within and outside of the island of 23 million people.