 |
China Unveils Next Year's Fiscal Work Focus
Finance Minister Xiang Huaicheng announced Wednesday, December 13, that China will continue to implement the active fiscal policy, make more efforts to regulate taxation management and strive to improve supervision of its finance next year.
China's finance administrations at all levels will improve taxation management procedures and cooperate with the taxation administrations and the customs in a bid to curb tax evasion, Xiang said at a national meeting on fiscal work.
The central government also intends to increase the retirement pension and ensure that the salaries of officials and institutional employees be paid in time, he added.
China will further increase expenditure in the social insurance sector next year, especially in education, scientific research, agriculture, and environmental protection in the rural areas.
Active Fiscal Policy ContinuesChina will keep implementing an active fiscal policy to ensure sound economic growth next year, in view of the fact that this year's fiscal policy has achieved noticeable results, Xiang said.
The Chinese Government will continue to issue treasury bonds funding infrastructure projects and will launch special T-bonds to support the western development policy next year, he added.
The central government has issued 150-billion-yuan worth of T-bonds for infrastructure projects so far this year to expand the investment.
China will also continue to raise residents' incomes to stimulate consumption and expand domestic demand, he said.
Faced with lukewarm domestic demand and deflation pressure caused by the Asian financial crisis in 1998, China's three-year active fiscal policy has proven successful at inducing economic growth, Xiang noted.
Insiders at the economic sector predict that the country's economic growth rate will exceed the 7-percent target announced early this year.
China has adjusted the income distribution policy this year and increased subsidies for low-income people, which also gained favorable results.
Fiscal Budgets Well ImplementedBoth the central and local fiscal budgets are well implemented this year, with the deficit at the central coffer considerably reduced, the minister said.
The fiscal revenue reached 1191.2 billion yuan during the January-November period, 208.5 billion yuan more or 21.2 percent higher than the same period last year.
Revenues at the central level rose 32.6 percent to 632.5 billion yuan, while that at the local level increased 15.6 percent to 558.8 billion yuan.
Fiscal expenditure totaled 1190.9 billion yuan, including 390.6 billion yuan at the central level and 800 billion yuan at the local level, up 20.6 percent, 32.6 percent and 15.5 percent, respectively.
The annual increase of revenue averaged 16.4 percent or 142 billion yuan during the Ninth Five-Year-Plan period (1996-2000), contributing one percent on average annually to gross domestic product (GDP). As a result, the central government has gradually improved its macro-economic control in the process.
During the period, the structure of fiscal expenditure has been optimized. Total expenditure is predicted to reach 5709.9 billion yuan, 2.3 times that of the previous five years.
This year the central government has issued 150 billion yuan long-term treasury bonds to further support the infrastructure investment.
Meanwhile, the government has earmarked more money to shore up salary and social welfare systems. The growth rate of expenditure on education and science both surpassed that of the fiscal expenditure itself.
The minister called for more effort to promote budget reform, and establish systems that will meet both international and Chinese standards.
Next year China will continue the active fiscal policy, improve the taxation system, adjust the structure of fiscal revenue, and promote fiscal management reform.
In This Section
|