Xi Jinping Urges "Qualitative Improvement" and "Reasonable Quantitative Growth" in China's Economy
On Thursday, October 22, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth in the economy, Xinhua reported, as relayed by Reuters. "We must resolutely promote high-quality development and continuously meet the people's ever-growing needs for a better life," Xi said about promoting comprehensive social progress while maintaining stability. He also emphasised upholding the Communist Party of China's "absolute leadership" over the armed forces and advancing the "political building of the military."
The official framing puts "qualitative improvement" first and qualifies "quantitative growth" as "reasonable," pairing both with "comprehensive social progress" and "maintaining stability." The quoted line about high-quality development and people's growing needs for a better life anchors the message in livelihoods rather than headline growth rates. On the military side, "absolute leadership" and "political building" are presented alongside reform, science and technology, talent and lawful governance as the path to strengthening the armed forces.
The speech was part of commemorations for the 90th anniversary of the Long March, a series of retreats by the Red Army led by Mao Zedong to evade the pursuing Nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek in 1934 and 1935. By placing an economic message inside that commemoration, the leadership ties today's high-quality development agenda to the Party's historical narrative and to military-political control, signalling continuity between past struggle and present priorities.
For companies, high-quality development implies continued emphasis on technological innovation and industrial upgrading, requiring heavier investment in research and transformation. For local governments, the task is balancing steady growth with quality, rather than chasing speed alone. For the military, the emphasis on the Party's absolute leadership and political building signals continued reform and technology-driven strengthening, with reform, science and technology, talent and lawful governance named together as the route forward.
Markets and analysts are likely to read this speech as a precursor to deployments under the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development. Attention will focus on follow-up measures in industrial policy, technology finance and green finance. Reuters's account, however, offers no specific numeric targets or timetable; the real policy intensity will depend on subsequent official documents, and investors and enterprises should treat those as the operative reference.
The core message is straightforward: under a backdrop of stability and comprehensive social progress, make "qualitative improvement" the primary direction of economic work, keep "quantitative growth" within "reasonable" bounds, and secure the political and security base through the Party's absolute leadership over the military. For markets, that means stability first in the short term and quality-led progress over the medium term, with the concrete pace to be set by later policy papers.