In his report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday, General Secretary Xi Jinping said that the principal contradiction facing Chinese society has evolved and socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era.

According to Xi, what China now faces is the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's ever-growing needs for a better life.

In the past, the principal contradiction that Chinese society faced was described as the one "between the ever-growing material and cultural needs of the people and backward social production".

The evolution of the principal contradiction represents a "historic shift that affects the whole landscape, and that creates many new demands for the work of the Party and the country", Xi said.

The needs to be met for the people to live a better life are increasingly broad. Not only have their material and cultural needs grown, their demands for democracy, rule of law, fairness and justice, security, and a better environment are also increasing, he said.

Despite the evolution of the principal contradiction, China "is still and will long remain in the primary stage of socialism", and China's international status as the world's largest developing country has not changed, Xi said.