1.Premier Wen delivers gov't work report
2.China opens political advisory session
1. Premier Wen delivers gov't work report
BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is to deliver a report on the work of his cabinet at the opening meeting of the annual full session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, scheduled to start in the Great Hall of the People at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Following are the highlights of Wen's 44-page Report on the Work of the Government, a set of plans and polices of the Chinese government to cope with the tough economic situation and stimulate the Chinese economy. The text of the report was distributed to the media prior to the opening of the NPC session:
MAJOR TARGETS for 2009
-- GDP will grow by about 8 percent;
-- Economic structure will further improve;
-- Urban employment will increase by more than 9 million persons;
-- Urban registered unemployment rate will be held under 4.6 percent;
-- Urban and rural incomes will grow steadily;
-- Rise in the CPI will be around 4 percent;
-- Balance of payments will continue to improve.
DEFICIT
-- The central government deficit is set at 750 billion yuan, 570 billion yuan more than last year. The total deficit will become 950 billion yuan as local governments plan to issue 200 billion yuan worth of government bonds, accounting for less than 3percent of the GDP.
REAL ESTATE SECTOR
-- Even more vigorous and effective policies and measures will be adopted to stabilize market confidence and expectations, keep real estate investment stable, and promote steady and orderly development of the real estate industry.
POST QUAKE RECONSTRUCTION
-- The central government will allocate 130 billion yuan to accelerate recovery and reconstruction of areas hit by the Wenchuan earthquake.
AGRICULTURE, RURAL AREAS & FARMERS
-- Central government allocations for agriculture, rural areas and farmers will total 716.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increaseof 120.6 billion yuan.
INDUSTRIAL RESTRUCTURING
-- The government will conscientiously implement plans for adjusting and invigorating key industries such as the automobile, steel, shipbuilding, petrochemical, textile, nonferrous metals, equipment manufacturing, information technology, modern logistics, and light industries.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION
-- The central government will allocate 146.1 billion yuan to the science and technology sector, up 25.6 percent from last year.
FOOD SAFETY
-- The government will implement strict market access rules and product traceability and recall systems so that the people buy food and drugs with confidence and consume them with satisfaction.
SOCIAL SAFETY NET
-- The central government plans to spend 293 billion yuan on the social safety net, up 17.6 percent or 43.9 billion yuan over the estimated figure for last year. Local governments will also increase funding in this area.
EMPLOYMENT
-- The government will implement a more proactive employment policy, and the central government will allocate 42 billion yuan for this purpose.
EDUCATION
-- The government will formulate the Outline of the National Medium- and Long-Term Program for Education Reform and Development to make comprehensive arrangements for education reform and development in China through 2020.
HEALTH CARE REFORM
-- Governments at all levels will allocate an additional 850 billion yuan in the next three years, including 331.8 billion yuan from the central government, to ensure smooth progress in the reform of the medical and health care system.
NATIONAL DEFENSE
-- The government will improve defense-related research, the weapons and equipment production system, the military personnel training system, and the army's logistics support system that integrate civilian with military purposes and combine military efforts with civilian support.
TAIWAN ISSUE
-- The mainland will remain committed to the goal of peaceful development of cross-Straits relations, and work actively to builda framework for and strive to achieve new progress in the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations.
-- The mainland will continue to comprehensively strengthen cross-Straits economic cooperation to jointly respond to the global financial crisis.
-- The mainland will accelerate normalization of cross-Straits economic relations and facilitate the signing of a comprehensive agreement on economic cooperation, and gradually establish economic cooperation mechanisms tailored to both sides of the Straits.
-- The mainland will work on the basis of the one-China principle to enhance mutual political trust between the two sides.
Source: Xinhua (www.chinaview.cn)
Extended Reading
1A. Premier Wen's gov't work report
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/05/content_10945972.htm
1B．Backgrounder: NPC motions and CPPCC proposals
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/04/content_10942513.htm
1C. Backgrounder: election of NPC deputies
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/04/content_10942484.htm
1D. Backgrounder: People's Congress system and NPC
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/04/content_10942446.htm
2. China opens political advisory session
BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- China's political advisors convened Tuesday afternoon for their annual full session, focusing their major concerns on economy while the impacts of the global financial turmoil unfolded.
Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), urged his colleagues at the opening session to contribute to the work of maintaining steady and relatively rapid economic development this year.
"Maintaining steady and relatively rapid economic development is the primary task of this year's economic work, as well as the focus of the CPPCC in executing its functions and serving the overall interests of the country," Jia said in a report on the work of the CPPCC National Committee's Standing Committee.
"We must...accord highest priority to maintaining steady and relatively rapid economic development, take safeguarding social harmony and stability as our primary responsibility (this year)," Jia added.
The top political advisor said the year 2009 marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of New China and the CPPCC, and the year is crucial for properly responding to the global financial crisis and promoting further development of the cause of the Party and the country.
China's economic growth slowed to 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, dragging down the annual rate to a seven-year low of 9 percent, as the unfolding global financial crisis takes a toll on the national economy.
According to the session's secretariat, political advisors had submitted 296 proposals as of 5 p.m. Monday, with economy, employment and infrastructure high on the agenda.
A total of 2,160 CPPCC National Committee members coming throughout the country attended the opening meeting. They will underline major concerns of the nation's development during the annual session scheduled to conclude on March 12.
The political consultants raised 5,056 proposals on politics, economy, science, ecological conservation and other issues into file over the past year, of which 99.03 percent had received due consideration or had been handled, as of Feb. 20, 2009, said Zhang Rongming, vice-chairwoman of the CPPCC National Committee.
Top Communist Party of China (CPC) and state leaders Hu Jintao,Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang were present at the session's opening.
Founded in 1949, the CPPCC consists of elite members of the Chinese society who are willing to serve the think tank for the government and for the country's legislative and judicial organs.
As an open forum where the CPC, non-Communist parties and people without party affiliation discuss state affairs freely and on an equal footing, the CPPCC has been the manifestation of China's socialist democracy.
Source: Xinhua (www.chinaview.cn)
Extended Reading
2A．Special Report: China National People's Congress, National Committee of CPPCC Annual Sessions
http://www.chinaview.cn/2009lh/
