Premier Wen
Jiabao delivered a report on the work of the government to the
Fourth
Session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC)
that opened at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on
Sunday.
China targets an 8 percent economic growth this year and will
take measures to keep the development "fast" and "steady," Wen
said.
The projected growth rate is 1.9 percentage points lower than
the actual growth in 2005.
The premier also proposed an annual growth rate of 7.5 percent
for the national economy during the period of the 11th Five-Year
(2006-10) Guidelines for National Economic and Social Development.
This indicates a projected target of doubling the per capita gross
domestic product (GDP) of 2000 by the year 2010.
Between 2001 and 2005, China's GDP grew at an average annual
rate of 9.5 percent, 0.9 percentage points higher than the annual
figure in the Ninth Five-Year Plan period (1996-2000).
The following are some of the facts and figures about China's
achievements in economic and social development in 2005, as seen in
Wen's report:
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China's GDP reached 18.23 trillion yuan (US$2.27 trillion) in 2005,
an increase of 9.9 percent over the previous year;
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Fiscal revenue exceeded 3 trillion yuan (US$373 billion), 523.2
billion yuan (US$65.1 billion) more than the previous year;
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Consumer price index rose 1.8 percent;
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Import and export volume totaled US$1.42 trillion, an increase of
23.2 percent;
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Actually-used direct foreign investment reached US$60.3
billion;
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Foreign exchange reserves totaled US$818.9 billion at the end of
2005;
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A total of 9.7 million urban residents entered the workforce for
the first time;
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Urban per capita disposable income rose to 10,493 yuan
(US$1,305.1), an increase of 9.6 percent after adjusting for
inflation;
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Rural per capita net income grew to 3,255 yuan (US$405), an
increase of 6.2 percent after adjusting for inflation;
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Agricultural tax was rescinded in 28 provinces, autonomous regions
and municipalities directly under the central government, and the
livestock tax was rescinded nationwide;
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Last year, 297.5 billion yuan (US$37 billion) from the central
government budget was spent on agriculture, rural areas and
farmers, an increase of 34.9 billion yuan (US$4.3 billion) over
2004;
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With considerable increase in 2004, grain output rose by 14.55
billion kg to reach 484 billion kg;
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A total of 21.9 billion yuan (US$2.7 billion) was allocated by the
central government to subsidize the policy-based closure and
bankruptcy of 116 state-owned enterprises;
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The central government spent 116.8 billion yuan (US$14.5 billion)
in 2005 on science and technology, education, health and culture,
an increase of 18.3 percent over the previous year. In addition,
9.54 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) from the sale of treasury bonds
was spent on these items;
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Over 7 billion yuan (US$870.6 million) was allocated by the central
and local governments to pay tuition and miscellaneous fees,
provide free textbooks, and subsidize room and board for 17 million
students from poor families in 592 designated poverty-stricken
counties. Free textbooks were also provided to more than 17 million
students from poor families in the central and western regions;
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Over the past three years, the central and local governments spent
10.5 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) to basically complete the
establishment of a disease prevention and control system that
operates at the provincial, city and county levels;
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A total of 16.4 billion yuan (US$2.04 billion) was spent on setting
up a medical treatment system for public health emergencies, and
work is proceeding smoothly;
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Total expenditures from the central government budget for fighting
natural disasters and providing disaster relief came to 8.9 billion
yuan (US$1.1 billion) last year, and more than 90 million people
were helped;
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The central and local governments allocated 16.2 billion yuan (US$2
billion) for poverty alleviation, and the number of rural residents
living in poverty decreased by 2.45 million;
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Elections for village committees were held in 21 provinces,
autonomous regions and municipalities.
The following are the main targets for China's economic and
social development in 2006, revealed in the report:
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China's GDP should grow about 8 percent, and energy consumption per
unit of GDP should fall by about 4 percent;
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The rise in consumer prices should be kept under 3 percent;
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Urban employment should increase by 9 million persons, and the
urban registered unemployment rate should be kept under 4.6
percent;
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The equilibrium in the balance of payments should stay basically
balanced;
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The government plans to issue 60 billion yuan (US$7.46 billion)
worth of long-term treasury bonds, 20 billion yuan (US$2.49
billion) less than last year, while increasing regular construction
investment from the central government budget by 10 billion yuan
(US$1.24 billion);
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The deficit in the central government budget is projected to be 295
billion yuan (US$36.69 billion), 5 billion yuan (US$621.89 million)
less than last year.
Regarding the energy issue, Wen said China will strive to chop
down its energy consumption rate by 4 percent this year, a new key
index to guide economic and social development.
"Energy consumption per unit of GDP should fall by about 4
percent in 2006," Wen said.
It is the first time China combines energy-efficiency with the
indexes of economic growth, price, employment and balance of
payments for macro-control of its economy.
China is determined to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP
by 20 percent and the total volume of major pollutant discharges by
10 percent in the coming five years, a new round of economic and
social development beginning this year, Wen said.
Necessitated by the country's current conditions and long-term
interests, these targets are designed to tackle the mounting
pressure on resources and environment and provide a clear guide for
policy-making, Wen said.
"Though achieving them will be quite difficult, we have the
confidence and determination to succeed," he said, noting that
China is resolved to build a resources-saving and
environment-friendly society.?
Official statistics show that the total volume of energy
consumption in China last year was equal to 2.22 billion tons of
standard coal, up 9.5 percent over the previous year and lower than
the 9.9 percent economic growth rate. Energy consumption per 10,000
yuan (US$1,250) of GDP was equivalent to 1.43 tons of standard
coal, roughly the same level as that in 2004.
China has seen its economic volume quadrupled in the last two
decades of the 20th century largely due to huge investment and
doubled energy consumption. However, the obvious conflict between
environment protection and booming economic growth will challenge
China's future development.
The premier called for the establishment of various standards
for conserving energy, water, land and materials in all industries,
and the development of environment-friendly products, projects and
buildings.
He added that energy-efficiency index of all regions and major
industries will be released to the public on an annual basis. In
this sense, the public will be mobilized to join in the long-term
campaign of energy and resources conservation in a bid to bolster a
recyclable economy and an environment-friendly society.
To build a "new socialist countryside," Wen said the government
will spend 339.7 billion yuan (US$42 billion) in agriculture, rural
areas and farmers this year, which is 42.2 billion yuan (US$5.25
billion), or 14.18 percent, more than last year.
"We need to implement a policy of getting industry to support
agriculture and cities to support the countryside, strengthen
support for agriculture, rural areas and farmers, and continue
making reforms in rural systems and innovations in rural
institutions to bring about a rapid and significant change in the
overall appearance of the countryside," he said.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC)
has set objectives including "enhanced productive forces, higher
living standards, civilized living style, an orderly and clean
environment, and democratic administration," he said.
China is an agricultural country traditionally, and old-style
farming lasted for thousands of years in most areas. Like any other
countries, China had drawn a huge sum of funds for industry
development from agriculture and rural areas in the initial stage
of industrialization and urbanization since 1949, resulting in
yawning gap between the city and the countryside.
To narrow the gap, the government has kept increasing central
fiscal expenditure on agriculture, rural areas and farmers over the
last few years. In 2005, the fund from the central budget and
T-bond proceeds to support agriculture, rural areas and farmers
reached 297.5 billion yuan (US$36.7 billion), which was 34.9
billion yuan (US$4.34 billion) more than in 2004 and over 100
billion yuan (US$12.44 billion) more than in 2002. The capital
inputs of many localities for this purpose also reached a record
high.
Wen said this year priority will be given to developing modern
agriculture and promoting steady expansion of grain production and
sustained increase in farmers' incomes.
"We will further increase direct subsidies to grain producers,
subsidies for growing superior grain cultivars, and subsidies for
agricultural machinery and tools," he said.
"We need to resolutely work to reorient investment by shifting
the government's priority in infrastructure investment to the
countryside. This constitutes a major change," he said.
The fund will be mainly used for strengthening basic development
of farmland, accelerating construction of infrastructure projects
such as roads, drinking water supplies, methane facilities, power
grids and communications.
In what was called "a milestone event" in China's educational
history, Wen pledged that the government would eliminate all
charges on rural students receiving a nine-year compulsory
education before the end of 2007.
The new policy, apparently resulting from the central
leadership's latest call for building a "new socialist
countryside," will benefit some 160 million school-age children in
the vast rural region, who account for nearly 80 percent of the
country's primary and junior middle school students.
"Over the next two years, we will completely eliminate tuition
and miscellaneous fees for all rural students receiving compulsory
education," the premier said.?
The policy's successful implementation, which Wen said requires
an increase of 218.2 billion yuan (US$27.27 billion) in the central
government budget expenditure over the next five years, will
basically lift China out of the rank of less than 30 countries
worldwide that fail to provide their kids with completely free
compulsory education.
China in 1986 promulgated the law on compulsory education, which
stipulates that the state should provide a nine-year compulsory
education "free of tuition fees" for all primary and junior middle
school students.
However, the law has failed to guarantee the funding of
compulsory education, thus forcing many schools, particularly those
in the impoverished rural regions, to either continue to collect
the tuition fees or charge various "miscellaneous fees" on their
students in the name of "voluntary donations," "fund-raising for
school construction" or "after-school tutoring fees."
Excessive charges by the schools have become a major reason
behind the increasing rural dropouts in recent years. The dropout
ratio for rural primary and junior middle schools in 2004 was 2.45
percent and 3.91 percent respectively, while the figure in the less
developed central and western regions was much higher.
Wen said the new policy would be first implemented in the
western regions this year and then extended to the central and
eastern regions next year.
"We will also continue to provide free textbooks to students
from poor families and living allowances to poor students residing
on campus," he added.
Funding the repair and renovation of rural school buildings and
guaranteeing the payment of rural school teachers' salaries are
also among the measures Wen promised to take in the coming
years.
Addressing the key issue of financing, he said expenditures on
rural compulsory education will be "fully incorporated into the
central and local government budgets," and promised to gradually
establish a "mechanism to guarantee funding for rural compulsory
education."
The NPC has already started amending the two-decade-old
compulsory education law, focusing on sufficient funding.
Underlining the significance of the new policy, Wen said, "It is
bound to have a far-reaching impact on raising the overall quality
of the people of China."?
The following are the main facts and figures about the drive to
build a "new socialist countryside," revealed in the report:
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Central government budget expenditures for agriculture, rural areas
and farmers this year will total 339.7 billion yuan (US$42
billion), 42.2 billion yuan (US$5.25 billion) more than last
year;
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China will completely rescind the agricultural tax throughout the
country in 2006, a tax that China has been collecting for 2,600
years. The reform of rural taxes and fees has greatly benefited
farmers by eliminating 33.6 billion yuan (US$4.18 billion) of
agricultural tax and over 70 billion yuan (US$8.71 billion) of
various sorts of fees and charges;
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Starting this year, the government will appropriate over 103
billion yuan (US$12.8 billion) annually to ensure the normal
operation of town and township governments and meet the needs of
rural compulsory education. This figure is comprised of more than
78 billion yuan (US$9.7 billion) in transfer payments from the
central government budget and over 25 billion yuan (US$3.1 billion)
from local government budgets;
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Over the next two years, the government will completely eliminate
tuition and miscellaneous fees for all rural students receiving
compulsory education. The central government budget expenditures
for compulsory education will increase by 218.2 billion yuan
(US$27.27 billion) over the next five years;
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The state will spend more than 20 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion)
over the next five years on renovating hospital buildings in towns
and townships and in some counties and upgrading their
equipment;
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China will speed up the establishment of a new type of rural
cooperative medical care system by extending the scope of current
trials to 40 percent of the counties in China this year and by
increasing the allowances paid by the central and local governments
to farmers participating in the system from 20 yuan (US$2.5) to 40
yuan (US$5). An additional 4.2 billion yuan (US$522.4 million) will
be allocated from the central government budget for this
program.
The premier also said the central government will allocate 71.6
billion yuan (US$8.91 billion) this year for investment in science
and technology, representing an increase of 19.2 percent
year-on-year.
"China has entered a stage in its history where it must increase
its reliance on scientific and technological advances and
innovation to drive social and economic development," he said.
Wen said China will establish a mechanism to ensure stable
growth of government investment in science and technology. "Local
governments and enterprises also need to increase their
investment."
The State Council published an Outline of the National Program
for Long- and Medium-term Scientific and Technological Development
in February, saying that China's total sci-tech expenditures should
account for 2.5 percent of its GDP by 2020, which will be similar
to that of developed economies and science powers.
In 2004, China's expenditures in this respect took up 1.23
percent of the GDP, which is the highest among all developing
countries.
According to the 11th Five-Year Guidelines also tabled with
lawmakers for examination and approval, China will in the next five
years launch a number of major scientific and technological
projects in strategic industries such as information technology and
biotechnology, and projects to address important, pressing problems
in energy, resources, the environment and the health of the people,
as well as technologies with both military and civilian
applications.
These projects are of "major and immediate significance and will
have far-reaching importance" for speeding up the solution of
crucial scientific and technological problems with a bearing on
China's overall situation and long-term development, and raising
the overall technological level in those areas, Wen said.
Since the 1950s, China has made remarkable progress in sci-tech
development, highlighted by atom bombs, man-made satellites, manned
spaceships, hybrid rice and high performance servers. But the role
of technology development has yet to be brought to full play for
the promotion of national economy.
Turning to the Taiwan issue, Wen said anybody who acts against
people's wishes for peaceful and stable relations across the Taiwan
Straits is bound to meet failure.
"Everyone wants cross-Straits relations to be peaceful and
stable and to develop to the mutual benefit of both sides," he
said.
"Anyone who tries to reverse this major trend will most
certainly fail," he said.
Relations between the mainland and Taiwan showed signs of
improvement last year thanks to efforts of people on both
sides.
Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian, however, announced on February 27
a decision to stop the function of the "National Unification
Council" and its guidelines, seen as a dangerous move toward
"Taiwan independence" and a grave threat to peace across the
Straits.
The world public opinion quickly points out that Chen has done
this to save his poor political record and unpopularity, attempting
to gain support in a conflict with the mainland. Chen is now under
denouncement in and outside Taiwan for his repeated moves to make
trouble in the cross-Straits relations.
The premier reiterated the mainland's adherence to the basic
principles of "peaceful reunification," "one country, two systems"
and an eight-point proposal for developing cross-Straits relations
and promoting China's peaceful reunification under the present
circumstances.
The mainland will unswervingly uphold the one-China principle
and never give up its efforts to achieve peaceful reunification and
never change the principle of placing hopes on the people of
Taiwan, said Wen.
Meanwhile, the mainland will uncompromisingly oppose
secessionist activities aimed at "Taiwan independence," he
said.
"We will continue working with Taiwan compatriots to facilitate
visits by individuals, promote economic, scientific, technological,
and cultural exchanges and cooperation, and establish peaceful and
stable cross-Straits relations," he said.
Wen said the mainland will strive to resume dialogue and
negotiation between the two sides under the one-China principle and
promote resumption of the "three links" of mail, trade and
transport on a comprehensive, direct and two-way basis.
"We will support economic development on the west shore of the
Taiwan Straits in
Fujian and in other areas where Taiwan investment is
concentrated, protect the legitimate rights and interests of our
Taiwan compatriots in accordance with the law, and serve them
wholeheartedly," he said.?
A total of 68,095 projects funded by business people from Taiwan
had been approved on the mainland by the end of 2005, with a
contractual investment of US$89.7 billion from Taiwan and US$41.76
billion actually used.
Indirect cross-Straits trade volume had hit US$495.81 billion,
including US$81.73 billion of mainland exports to Taiwan and
US$414.08 billion of Taiwan exports to the mainland, resulting in
an aggregate trade surplus of US$332.35 billion for Taiwan.
The mainland is Taiwan's No.1 export market and largest trade
surplus source, while Taiwan is mainland's second largest import
market.
(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2006)
