Chinese President Xi Jinping's New Year address, delivered on Tuesday, emphasized innovation, resilience, and confidence in addressing domestic and international challenges, a Beijing-based senior professor remarked during a live studio discussion on Wednesday.
Liu Baocheng, dean of the Center for International Business Ethics at the University of International Business and Economics, described the speech as a blueprint for advancing technological self-reliance and fostering sustainable growth by 2025.
Highlighting the development of new quality productive forces in 2024, Liu noted that the emphasis underscores significant strides toward strengthening technology and promoting greater independence.
"For the past almost five decades, China almost emulated the technologies that are already available, either through the purchase of patent or taking the ventures through the off-shelf technologies, which is very legitimate, and the beauty of China's economic growth lies in the application of such sort of technology. Now we are really moving into the frontier research level, so therefore through self-development and indigenous innovation. Therefore, the government, businesses and research labs need to team up to really make some breakthroughs," he said.
"And of course, being self-sufficient does not mean that we are really closing our door. We need to continue to explore avenues to work with the rest of the world in the scientific period [field], and also with multinationals, and also the dialogue with politicians around the world. Because, after all, any technological advancement is really a contribution to humankind's advancement," said Liu.
Liu also highlighted how Xi's speech instills strong confidence about 2025, despite external pressures and the need for transformative changes in traditional practices.
In terms of policies to tackle these challenges, Liu emphasized measures aligned with Xi's vision, including creating job opportunities for young people, improving livelihoods, and ensuring social welfare.
"For such a strong economy, with its size in the global arena, particularly when it rises in global preeminence, it is very natural to receive a lot of pressures both at home and abroad. And at home, we need to get full-fledged towards the Chinese-style modernization, through the high-quality development by boosting more infrastructure soundness. Immediately, we need to provide better job opportunities, particularly for the younger generation, and also provide more of the social welfare to the general people, and then improve the regulatory environment for private businesses," he said.
As for China's approach to international challenges, Liu highlighted the importance of maintaining dialogue and fostering diversification in response to rising global protectionism.
"And overseas, given the protectionist sentiment going over there, one is that China continues to maintain dialogue and smooth out some of the hurdles that is possibly to be removed. And also we need to see diversification over the global marketplace," he said.
Xi's New Year address emphasizes innovation, sci-tech self-reliance amid challenges: scholar
From cutting-edge technology exhibitions to retail stores thousands of kilometers away from Europe and Southeast Asia, China-made robot vacuum cleaners are increasingly becoming a popular choice among consumers worldwide.
At electronics retailers in Berlin, Germany, Chinese brands such as Roborock and Dreame occupy prominent positions in dedicated robot vacuum sections, offering a wide range of products priced between 200 and 2,000 euros.
Many local consumers said that when purchasing smart home appliances including robot vacuum cleaners, they tend to give priority to Chinese-made products.
"It's a good price and good quality. It's also the innovation. I have a feeling that the European brands are not innovating enough," said one customer.
"I think they're always on top of the other technologies. They are getting them out faster. A lot of us are switching to the Chinese technology," another consumer said.
Germany is one of the most important overseas markets for China's floor-cleaning robots.
According to data from market research firm GfK, from January to November 2025, more than six out of 10 robot vacuum cleaners sold in Western Europe were Chinese brands.
Industry data also point to a strong global momentum.
According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), global shipments of smart robot vacuum cleaners reached 17.424 million units in the first three quarters of 2025, representing a year-on-year increase of 18.7 percent.
Chinese brands including Roborock, Ecovacs, Dreame, Xiaomi and Narwal ranked among the world's top five in terms of shipment volume, with a combined share of nearly 70 percent of the global market.
At a robot vacuum cleaner manufacturing plant in Huizhou, south China's Guangdong Province, workers were seen stepping up production of newly launched models that recently debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show in the United States, which concluded Friday in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The factory adjusted its production lines as early as December 2025 and stocked inventory in advance for overseas markets to ensure that new products could be delivered to global consumers at the earliest possible time.
"In 2025, Roborock's global shipments exceeded 7.2 million units. Since 2024, overseas revenue has accounted for more than 50 percent of our total revenue. Our products have now been sold to more than 170 countries and regions, serving more than 20 million households worldwide," said Quan Gang, president of Roborock.
At another robot vacuum cleaner manufacturing facility in Dongguan, Guangdong, rising overseas orders have prompted the company to upgrade its production lines with intelligent technologies to further boost capacity. The factory is currently operating at full load to meet a growing demand.
"For 2026, we have already obtained overseas orders worth at least 300 million to 400 million yuan (around 43 million to 57.3 million U.S. dollars). In addition, we've engaged in strategic cooperation with European home appliance group Cebos Group, and our total confirmed orders have exceeded 600 million yuan (around 86 million U.S. dollars)," said Zhang Junbin, founder and CEO of Narwal Robotics.
Chinese robot vacuum brands gain strong global traction
