Beijing's annual work report traditionally includes a couple of paragraphs declaring that the government will continue working toward the unification of Taiwan. This is the first year since President Xi Jinping came to power a decade ago that this section of the annual report includes a time frame - "in the new era" - although it's unclear how long a period this means.

The stronger wording is in line with Beijing's signals of impatience on Taiwan over the past few years, which have alarmed residents of the island. Xi said in 2019 that "we should not allow this problem to be passed down from one generation to the next."

Huang Kwei-bo, associate professor of diplomacy at Taiwan's National Chengchi University, said the term "in the new era" was closely associated with Xi's rule and has been showing up more often in various contexts.

Huang said Xi likely wants to send the message that he "is ready to deal with both old and new problems in the new era."