China positions itself as force for global stability at its annual Congress

BEIJING (AP) — While much of the world’s attention is on the Iran war, that hasn’t stopped China from moving ahead with national priorities with global repercussions.

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Not that China doesn’t care about the war and its impact on energy supplies and geopolitics. But for the world’s second largest economy, its growing rivalry with the United States revolves around a different battle: the development of the cutting-edge technologies shaping the 21st century.

That message came through ina five-year plan formally endorsed Thursday by the National People>s Congress at the end of its annual meeting, the nation’s biggest political event of the year. If anything, China is doubling down ona push to transform its economy and be at the forefront of technology. State media described China’s determination to stay the course on economic development as a force for stability in an uncertain world.

“A stable and developing China injects more stability and certainty into a world fraught with change and turbulence,” the official People’s Daily newspaper said in a front-page column on Wednesday. Other state-media echoed that view.