BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) - China's President Xi Jinping issued an unusually upbeat assessment about China's future, noting that "time and the situation" were on the country's side in a new year marked by domestic turmoil in the United States.

The Chinese leader told a gathering of provincial and ministerial-level officials on Monday (Jan 11) that he saw "opportunities in general outweighing challenges", a marked shift from his sometimes dire-sounding warnings of recent months.