China must balance growth and security in pursuing national rejuvenation, President Xi Jinping said in a short keynote speech on Monday, marking the beginning of his unprecedented third term . He said China’s “great rejuvenation” was now an “irreversible historical process” after a century of struggle that had “wiped out the nation’s humiliation”. For the first time, Xi publicly mentioned his third term and vowed to achieve the goals he set out in the 20th Communist Party congress : returning China to the forefront of great powers. “This is my third time assuming the lofty office of president,” he said at the closing of China’s national legislature , adding that “the trust of the people is the biggest driving force for me to move forward, and it is also a heavy responsibility on my shoulders”. He pledged he would “faithfully perform the duties entrusted by the constitution” and would “never let down the great trust” of all Chinese people. The president said balancing development and security would be the key to delivering this. “Security is the foundation of development. Stability is the precondition of prosperity. We must have a comprehensive systematic approach to ensure national security. We need to improve public governance and develop a holistic national security framework,” Xi said. China’s new security team poised to strengthen party control amid threats Xi made clear that the focus of the ruling Communist Party, and China as a whole, was to “comprehensively build a modern and powerful socialist country and comprehensively promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”. China’s president stressed that scientific and technological self-reliance and the grooming of domestic technology expertise were key for the country’s “high-quality development”. “[We should] thoroughly implement the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, strengthening the country with talent and innovation-driven development, focusing on improving the ability of self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology.” The president said China would go full throttle to modernise its military and make the People’s Liberation Army an effective protector of China’s national interests. He also pledged that China would not close itself off to the world and would actively pursue multilateralism and take part in global development and governance. Xi said the central government would support the two special administrations – Hong Kong and Macau – to develop their economies. He said the key to success was to faithfully adhere to “one country, two systems” and let the Hong Kong and Macau people govern themselves in accordance with the laws. Xi said Beijing would actively pursue a peaceful solution to the Taiwan issue but would firmly oppose outside attempts to split Taiwan from mainland China. China’s ‘two sessions’: petitions upgrade ‘sign Beijing is listening’ Reiterating Beijing’s stance on Taiwan, he said “[we must] adhere to the one-China principle and the 1992 consensus, and actively promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations”. Calling reunification “the common aspiration of all Chinese people, and the essence of national rejuvenation”, Xi said: “[We must] resolutely oppose interference by external forces and separatist activities for Taiwan independence, and unwaveringly push forward the process of reunification of the motherland.” Xie Maosong, a senior fellow of the Taihe Institute and a senior researcher at the National Institute of Strategic Studies at Tsinghua University, said Xi continued to put Taiwan reunification at the centre of the Chinese national rejuvenation goal, indicating his continued political will to make progress on Taiwan, despite US activities on that front. “It shows nothing has changed on his resolution on the Taiwan front,” Xie said. He said Xi would counter the US containment strategy of alliances by showing China as a peacemaker – along the lines of the role it played in brokering an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran. “While the US is talking about democracy, China is talking about peace,” Xie said. “I think more peacemaking efforts by China will be realised this coming year. Xi said promoting the implementation of global development initiatives and global security initiatives will be two key areas for China’s diplomacy. Both are his hallmark policies.”