Through the above policies, the burdens on enterprises and individuals will be cut by more than 500 billion yuan this year. At the same time, we will increase government expenditures and investment as appropriate to work on living standards and other areas in need of strengthening. We will develop new ways for government funds to be spent and improve the government spending mix to ensure that all essential items receive sufficient funding, while non-essential items are cut.

 Fiscal and tax reforms will be stepped up.We will move forward with the reform of the way powers and expenditure responsibilities are shared between the central and local governments, ensuring that the proportion of VAT revenue received by the central and local governments is determined appropriately. Taxes suitable as sources of local government revenue will be handed over to local governments along with the corresponding administrative powers. Central government special transfer payments to local governments will be further reduced, while this year’s general transfer payments will be increased by 12.2%. We will extend ad valorem rates to all resource taxes. We will promote the law-based administration of tax collection. We will establish a well-regulated mechanism for local governments to secure financing through bond issuance and make moderate upward adjustments to debt ceilings for local governments with strong financial resources and low debt risks through statutory procedures. Governments at all levels must tighten their belts and spend every sum of money where it can be seen and where it’s most needed.

■We will pursue prudent monetary policy that is flexible and appropriate.

Both the M2 money supply and aggregate financing in the economy are forecasted to grow by around 13% in 2016. We will use a full range of monetary policy tools including open market operations, interest rates, required reserve ratios, and re-lending to maintain sufficient liquidity at a proper level, improve the transmission mechanism of monetary policy, and reduce financing costs. We will provide more support for the real economy, particularly for small and micro businesses as well as agriculture, rural areas, and farmers.

We will deepen reform of the financial sector. We will move faster in the reform to improve the modern financial regulatory system and ensure that the financial sector serves the real economy more efficiently and that regulation covers all financial risks. Interest rates will be further liberalized. Improvements will be made to the market-based mechanism for setting the RMB exchange rate to ensure it remains generally stable at an appropriate and balanced level. We will deepen reform of state-owned commercial banks as well as development and policy-backed financial institutions, develop private banks, and launch trials to allow commercial banks to participate in combined debt-equity investments into startups and small businesses. We will move forward with the reform of stock and bond markets and increase the level of rule of law in their development, promote the sound development of the multilevel capital market, and ensure that the proportion of direct financing is increased. The Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect will be launched at an appropriate time. A catastrophe insurance system will be established. We will work to see that Internet finance develops in line with regulations, and we will make a major push to develop inclusive and green finance. We will strengthen unified, macro prudential management of foreign debt. We will tighten institutional constraints, safeguard order in the financial sector, crack down on financial fraud, illegal fundraising, and unlawful and criminal activities in the securities and futures markets, and make sure that no systemic or regional financial risks arise.