Full text: Report on China's central, local budgets (4)

Spending on social security and employment amounted to 575.373 billion yuan, 100.1% of the budgeted figure and an increase of 22%. We achieved full coverage of the new old-age pension system for the rural population and the old-age pension system for non-working urban residents. We raised basic pensions for enterprise retirees for the eighth consecutive year, with average monthly benefits reaching 1,721 yuan per person. We increased subsistence allowances for urban and rural residents living in areas that receive central government subsidies by an average of 15 yuan and 12 yuan respectively per person per month. We raised subsidies and living allowances for some entitled groups; improved the social assistance system targeted at orphans, people with disabilities, the homeless, and beggars; and increased efforts to help people affected by natural disasters to restore their lives. We improved policies and measures aimed at boosting employment and supported urban residents in finding jobs or starting their own businesses.

The appropriation for guaranteeing adequate housing was 260.16 billion yuan, up 44.6% and 122.9% of the budgeted figure. The main reason for going over the budgeted figure was an increase in subsidies for building government-subsidized housing and supporting infrastructure in urban areas as well as renovating dilapidated rural houses in the course of implementing the budget. Of the total appropriation, 225.389 billion yuan was spent on government-subsidized housing projects, including basically finishing the construction of 6.01 million units of urban housing and starting construction on another 7.81 million during the year. The project to renovate dilapidated rural houses was expanded from the central and western regions to rural areas throughout the country and central government subsidies were raised, which resulted in the renovation of 5.6 million homes in 2012.

Expenditure on agriculture, forestry, and water conservancy came to 599.598 billion yuan, 109.2% of the budgeted figure and a 25.3% gain. The main reason for exceeding the budget was an additional investment during implementation in efforts to provide relief from disasters that affect agricultural production, prevent and control serious floods and droughts, build major water conservancy projects as well as irrigation and water conservancy facilities, reinforce small dilapidated reservoirs, and clean up and improve the flood defenses of small and medium-sized rivers. We provided funding to step up agricultural and rural infrastructure development, move forward with the project to construct small irrigation and water conservancy facilities in 1,250 key counties, launch a campaign to save water and increase grain output, basically complete the work of reinforcing 7,000 small dilapidated reservoirs and cleaning up and improving the flood defenses of 27,500 kilometers of 2,209 small and medium-sized rivers, and support 958 counties in preventing and controlling mountain torrents. We increased subsidies for grain producers and extended the coverage of such policies. We expanded the areas and crop varieties eligible for agricultural insurance subsidies, thereby providing 900.6 billion yuan worth of risk protection to 183 million farming households. We supported the development of a modern seed industry and promoted the application of drought-resistant farming and arable land protection techniques. Last year, 2.002 million hectares of low- and medium-yield cropland was upgraded to high-yield standards, construction started or continued on 235 projects to upgrade water-saving equipment in medium-sized irrigated areas, 1.738 million hectares of irrigated land were created or improved, and the policy of subsidizing and rewarding grassland ecological conservation was expanded to cover all herding and semi-herding counties designated by the state. We increased investment in comprehensive poverty relief efforts to improve self-development capabilities of rural poverty-stricken areas and the poor population, and construction on 374,200 village-level public works projects was completed with government awards and subsidies, the launching of which were determined by villagers themselves.