China must enhance production capabilities and to be able to do it alone, she estimated President Xi Jinping at a time when his country is facing intense pressure from the United States and its allies.

“I often say there are two (critical) things to ensure: the first is China’s food bowl,” he emphasized during the annual session of the parliament, referring to food security.

“The second is to build a strong industrial sector”Xi Jinping estimated, according to statements published today by the People’s Daily, the organ of the ruling Communist Party.

“A large country of 1.4 billion people should only count on itself to solve these two problems”the Chinese president said. “International markets cannot protect us.”

He was speaking yesterday Sunday in Beijing to the deputies of Jiangsu, one of the most economically developed coastal provinces.

The development of critical sectors will enable China to become “a great modern socialist country from all sides,” Xi Jinping said, according to other statements carried by the official Xinhua news agency.

China and the United States are primarily engaged in a fierce battle to make semiconductors, those tiny electronic components that are essential to the operation of smartphones, electric cars and even military equipment.

In the name of an alleged threat to its national security, Washington has in recent months multiplied sanctions against Chinese chip makers, which are henceforth prevented from supplying American technology.

China revealed on Sunday it announced a growth target of “around 5 percent” for 2023, at the start of the annual parliament session during which Xi Jinping will receive a new mandate for a five-year presidential term.

The country also announced an increased defense budget for 2023 in a context of mistrust of its Asian neighbors, the United States and, henceforth, NATO in the face of increasing its power.