Development remains China’s top priority, Xi Jinping said on Sunday during a speech at the opening session of the 20th Chinese Communist party’s congress adding that reforms will be made in the direction of a socialist market economy.

The remarks come following a tough year for China’s economy owing to its strict ‘zero Covid’ policies that have hit production and supply chains.

Xi Jinping said that China must focus on high-quality development which should include work safety, supply chain resilience and the “dual circulation” economic strategy.

“In order to enhance the innovation capacity, China will move faster to launch a number of major national projects that are of strategic, big-picture, and long-term importance. Efforts will be made to improve the new system for mobilizing resources nationwide to make key technological breakthroughs, and boost China’s strength in strategic science and technology,” Xi Jinping said affirming the role of the tech industry in China’s economy.

The statement comes despite the country’s tech crackdown which erased more than $1 trillion in combined market value from the sector affecting major firms such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd.

China’s growth could be seen bouncing 3.4% but 2022 remains its worst performance in decades, forecasters have said. This is well below Beijing’s target of “around 5.5 per cent” set in March.