In the beginning of the 2020 economic prospects for China looked rather gloomy. The rates of growth were slipping down, inflation soared, the country was facing capital flight and descending currency rate. The US pressed China into unbalanced trade agreement, which finally kicked off on 15 January. Another headache for Beijing was situation in Hong Kong, where after seven months of riots opposition won local elections. On top of all an unknown disease emerged in the city of Wuhan.The article deals mainly with socio-economic story of China’s response to domestic and global situation during 2020 — first months of 2021. A matter of particular interest is a new frame of China’s position in the world economy.In March 2020 despite epidemics and economic hardships, China started to work on five-year plan of socio-economic development for 2021-25 and development program for 2021-2035. Later, in May, not long before the delayed session of NPC Xi Jinping coined a concept of ‘two circuits’ (“dual-circulation”). The concept was explained later, in Xi Jinping’s commentary to the Recommendations on the Fifth Plenary Session of CPC Central Committee in October 2020. Later the term has occupied an important place in the documents of NDC session in March 2020.The emergence and adoption in China of the concept of “two circuits” means the predominant reliance on the internal circuit compared to the external. The old strategy focused on external markets and external resources helped China to become a "global factory". But the times and China have changed: the domestic market of the country has now a huge potential, as tendencies towards protectionism and de-globalization have spread abroad.