Full text: Report on the Work of the Government (2)

I now wish to address the overall requirements and policy direction for economic and social development in 2018.

This year will kick off our efforts to put all the guiding principles from the Party’s 19th National Congress into action. It is the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, and it is a crucial year for securing a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and for continuing to implement the 13th Five-Year Plan.

To accomplish the government’s work for the year, we must, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, do the following:

- follow the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era;

- implement fully all the guiding principles from the Party’s 19th National Congress and the second and third plenary sessions of the 19th Party Central Committee;

- act on the Party’s basic theory, line, and policy;

- adhere to and strengthen Party leadership in all of our work;

- remain committed to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability and to the new development philosophy;

 - respond to the change in the principal contradiction in Chinese society;

- heed the requirement that development must be high quality;

- coordinate efforts to pursue the five-sphere integrated plan and the four-pronged comprehensive strategy;

- continue to regard supply-side structural reform as our main task;

- coordinate all work to maintain stable growth, promote reform, make structural adjustments, improve living standards, and guard against risk;

- work hard to reform and open up further;

- explore new ideas on and improve macro regulation;

 - promote a change in quality, change in efficiency, and change in growth drivers;

-  work particularly for solid progress in forestalling and defusing major risks, in targeted poverty alleviation, and in addressing pollution;

- guide and stabilize expectations, improve living standards, and promote sustained, healthy economic and social development.

A comprehensive analysis of how things stand at home and abroad tells us that China, in its development, faces both opportunities and challenges.

We can expect continued recovery of the global economy, but there are also many factors that bring instability and uncertainty. The policy changes of the major economies and their spillover effects create uncertainty; protectionism is mounting, and geopolitical risks are on the ascent.

China’s economy is now in a pivotal period in the transformation of its growth model, its structural improvement, and its shift to new growth drivers. There are still many hills to climb and gorges to cross; we will have to face risks and challenges, some foreseeable and others not.

In fact it’s always been the case that China’s achievements in development have been made while overcoming difficulties. Today, China’s material and technological foundations are much stronger; its industrial system is complete, its market is vast, its human resources are abundant, and its entrepreneurs and innovators are dynamic. We enjoy composite advantages, and all this means that we have the ability and the conditions to achieve higher quality, more efficient, fairer, and more sustainable development.

Based on the above considerations, we have set the following projected targets for development this year:

- GDP growth of around 6.5 percent

- CPI increase of around 3 percent

 - Over 11 million new urban jobs, the surveyed urban unemployment rate within 5.5 percent, and the registered urban jobless rate within 4.5 percent

 - Basic parity in personal income growth and economic growth

 - A steady rise in import and export volumes, and a basic equilibrium in the balance of payments

 - A drop of at least 3 percent in energy consumption per unit of GDP, and continued reductions in the release of major pollutants

 - Substantive progress in supply-side structural reform, basically stable macro leverage, and systematic and effective prevention and control of risk

The above targets take into consideration the need to secure a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and are fitting given the fact that China’s economy is transitioning from a phase of rapid growth to a stage of high-quality development. Given our economic fundamentals and capacity for job creation, GDP growth of around 6.5 percent will enable us to achieve relatively full employment. The surveyed urban unemployment rate covers rural migrant workers and other permanent urban residents. This year, for the first time we are using this indicator as a projected target; this is intended to give a fuller picture of employment and to better reflect the requirement that development is to be shared by everyone.

This year, we will continue to develop new ways of improving macro regulation and ensure that the degree of macro regulation is right. We will maintain the continuity and consistency of macro policies, and better coordinate fiscal, monetary, industrial, regional, and other policies.

The proactive direction of our fiscal policy will remain unchanged, and we will concentrate efforts to increase efficiency. This year’s deficit as a percentage of GDP is projected at 2.6 percent, 0.4 percentage point lower than last year. The government deficit is projected at 2.38 trillion yuan, with a central government deficit of 1.55 trillion yuan and local government deficit of 0.83 trillion yuan. The reduction in the deficit-to-GDP ratio is mainly due to China’s economic growth being steady and the foundation being there for an increase in revenue; it also keeps policy options open for macro regulation.

Government expenditure is budgeted at 21 trillion yuan, representing a further increase in the scale of spending. The central government will increase general transfer payments to local governments by 10.9 percent, to strengthen local finances, especially in the central and western regions.

We will improve the composition of government spending, making spending more oriented toward the public good and universal benefit, increasing support for the three critical battles against potential risk, poverty, and pollution, and weighting spending toward innovation-driven development, agriculture, rural areas, and rural residents, and the improvement of living standards.

Although government finances are improving, government at all levels must keep its belt tightened, keep things as simple as possible, abstain from all excess, and strictly control general expenditures, so that these precious funds are used to add growth drivers for sustaining development and to meet people’s most urgent needs.

Our prudent monetary policy will remain neutral, with easing or tightening only as appropriate. We need to make sure that the valve of aggregate monetary supply is well controlled, maintain moderate growth in M2 money supply, credit, and aggregate financing, ensure a reasonable, stable level of liquidity, and increase the proportion of direct finance, particularly equity finance. We will improve the transmission mechanism of monetary policy, make better use of differentiated reserve ratio and credit policies, and encourage more funds to flow toward small and micro businesses, agriculture, rural areas, and rural residents, and poor areas, and to better serve the real economy.

For government to deliver this year, we must act on Xi Jinping’s economic thinking for new-era socialism with Chinese characteristics, continue following the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, and regard stability and progress as being indivisible. Specifically, we will do the following:

First, we will strongly promote high-quality development. Development is the underpinning and the key for solving all our country’s problems. We will devote attention to addressing unbalanced and insufficient development. Centering on developing a modernized economy, we will put quality first and give priority to performance, and promote economic structural improvement and upgrading. We must respect objective economic laws, consider both long- and near-term needs, ensure the economy performs within a reasonable range, and achieve a situation in which steady economic growth and improvement in quality and performance reinforce each other.

Second, we will be bolder in reform and opening up. Reform and opening was a game-changing move in making China what it is today; it now remains a game-changing move for us to achieve China’s two centenary goals. Standing at a new historic starting point, we must go further in freeing our minds, in deepening reform, and in opening up. We need to give full play to the pioneering drive of the people, and encourage all localities, based on their own conditions, to dare to explore, dare to try things out, and dare to confront the toughest of issues, to keep reform and opening up constantly moving forward.

Third, we will ensure success in the three critical battles against potential risk, poverty, and pollution, battles that are important for decisively bringing to completion the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. We need to adopt targeted approaches and specific measures, draw up timetables and roadmaps, and set well-defined priorities. We will make sure risks and potential dangers are effectively controlled, make sure poverty alleviation is fully accomplished, and make sure there is an overall improvement in the quality of the environment.

All of our work is work for the people. We will stay true to the vision of people-centered development, start by considering China’s own situation, and do everything within our capacity to resolve each and every one of the issues that most affect and worry our people, promote social fairness and justice and well-rounded human development, and see that the people’s lives, along with our country’s development, keep getting better year after year.

Fellow Deputies,

Let me turn to what we propose for the work of government in 2018.

The tasks of economic and social development this year are formidable. We should make the most of this period of historic opportunity—a period for making things happen. We should take coordinated action that covers all sectors and focus on clear priorities, to deliver a solid performance in all areas of work.

1. Stepping up supply-side structural reform

In economic development we need to focus on the real economy. We should continue to cut overcapacity, reduce excess inventory, deleverage, lower costs, and strengthen areas of weakness. We should take big steps to streamline administration and cut taxes and fees, keep improving the business environment, and further energize market entities, to increase the quality of economic growth.

We should develop powerful new growth drivers.

We should create big, strong industrial clusters in emerging industries, implement the big data development action plan, step up next-generation artificial intelligence R&D and application, and do more to promote the Internet Plus model in many fields like medical care, elderly care, education, culture, and sports. We should move faster to develop modern services. We should develop intelligent industries, expand intelligent living, and build a smart society. We should use new technologies, new forms of business, and new models to transform and upgrade traditional industries. Statistics on emerging industries should be strengthened.

We should do more to speed up broadband and bring down internet rates, achieve high-speed broadband access in both urban and rural areas, and make free internet access available in more public places. We should significantly lower the rates of home broadband, and corporate broadband and dedicated internet access services; domestic data roaming charges should be abolished, and rates for mobile internet services should be cut by at least 30 percent. These steps would bring tangible benefits to people and businesses, and boost the development of a Digital China and a leader in cyberspace.

We should speed up work to build China into a leader in manufacturing.

We should promote the development of integrated circuits, 5G mobile communications, aircraft engines, new-energy vehicles, and new materials. We should launch an initiative to shore up weaknesses in major equipment manufacturing, advance smart manufacturing, develop industrial internet platforms, and create Made in China 2025 demonstration zones.

We should significantly scale back industrial production licensing, and strengthen product quality oversight. We should take action in all sectors to improve quality, and work toward meeting the highest international standards. We should encourage the model worker work ethic and the spirit of quality workmanship, build an educated, skilled, and innovative workforce, and ignite a quality revolution in Chinese manufacturing.

We should continue cutting ineffective supply.

With a commitment to using approaches consistent with market principles and the rule of law, we need to strictly enforce environmental protection, quality, and safety laws, regulations, and standards, and ease overcapacity and close down outdated production facilities. This year, steel production capacity should be further cut by around 30 million metric tons and coal production capacity should be cut by about 150 million metric tons. Coal-fired power generating units with a capacity of less than 300,000 kilowatts that fail to meet standards should be closed.

We should step up work on “zombie enterprise” bankruptcy liquidations and reorganization, ensuring that affected employees are given assistance and debts are dealt with. In cutting ineffective supply, we need to knuckle down to produce new results.

We should deepen the reforms designed to delegate powers, improve regulation, and strengthen services.

We should put fully into effect a nationally unified market access negative list system. The reform separating permits and certificates from business licenses should be rolled out nationwide. With the main thrust of this reform being to cut back on the permits and certificates now required once a business license is issued, all that can be cut should be cut, and all that can be merged should be merged. This would further trim a chunk off the time it takes to complete all the procedures required for starting a business. The turnaround time for registering a trademark should be significantly shortened, and the time it takes for a construction project to get government approval should again be halved. Trial reforms should be advanced to introduce a business-invested project commitment system.

An oversight model using randomly selected inspectors to inspect randomly selected entities and requiring the prompt release of results should be implemented across the board. There should be zero tolerance for counterfeit and substandard products and corruption in law enforcement.

We should make progress with the Internet Plus Government Services model, enabling more matters to be processed online, and doing our best to see that things requiring presence in person get done in one place and without the need for a second trip. We should step up efforts to standardize government services. We should work hard to advance the comprehensive institutional reform of law enforcement bodies, focusing on resolving the problem of layers of duplication in law enforcement. We should work faster to develop government information system connectivity and connect up information islands. We should review all types of certificates required of individuals and businesses when accessing government services, and put a stop to anything being required that does not have a basis in law or regulations. Creating a better business environment would unlock productivity and increase competitiveness. We need to remove barriers, cut red tape, and build even pathways, to energize market entities and bring greater convenience to the people.

We should further lighten the tax burden on businesses.

The VAT system should be reformed and improved: We should turn the three tax brackets into two and adjust rates, prioritize lowering rates in manufacturing and transportation, and raise the annual sales threshold for small-scale taxpayers. Far greater numbers of small low-profit businesses should have their income tax halved, and the ceilings on deductible business purchases of instruments and equipment should be significantly raised. A policy of uniform corporate income tax exemption on the overseas earnings of Chinese businesses should be put into implementation. More logistics companies should be able to enjoy preferential tax treatment on their use of land for storage facilities. Some expiring preferential policies should be extended, such as those on VAT and deed transfer tax on land transactions in enterprise reorganizations.

These measures would, over the year, reduce taxes on businesses and individuals by more than 800 billion yuan, promote the transformation and upgrading of the real economy, and do much to unleash market vitality and public creativity.

We should slash non-tax burdens on businesses.

We should further review and standardize government administrative fees, and lower required payments to some government-managed funds. We should continue the time-limited policy of lowering the share borne by businesses for contributions to old-age pension, medical insurance, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, maternity insurance, and housing provident fund schemes. Power grid charges and electricity transmission and distribution prices should be lowered, and the price of electricity for general industrial and commercial businesses should be cut by an average of 10 percent. We should deepen reform of the system of highway tolls and reduce tolls on highways and bridges. Charges for intermediary services should be thoroughly overhauled.

This year, to lighten the non-tax burden on market entities by over 300 billion yuan, all unjustified fees need to be abolished and all excessive fees need to be cut, leaving enterprises with a much lighter load and free to focus their resources on their development.

2. Moving faster to make China a country of innovators

The latest global revolution in science and technology and industrial transformation are trends we must make the most of. We should do more in implementing the innovation-driven development strategy, and keep on making the Chinese economy more innovative and competitive.

We should improve national innovation systems.

We should strengthen basic research, application-oriented basic research, and original innovation, launch a number of major science and technology innovation programs, and build top-quality national laboratories. We should encourage enterprises to head up major science and technology programs, support collaborative innovation by research institutes, universities, and enterprises, and speed up the commercialization and application of innovations. State investments in science and technology should be weighted toward fields related to improving living standards; smog prevention and control research should be strengthened, and more should be done toward making breakthroughs in the prevention and treatment of cancers and other serious diseases, to make science and technology do more to benefit the people.

We should act on and improve policies that stimulate innovation.

We should reform the science and technology management system, and speed up the shift in research project performance assessment from emphasis on processes to emphasis on outcomes. We should empower innovation teams and leaders by seeing that they have more human, financial, and material resources at their disposal and more power to make decisions related to technology roadmaps. For researchers working on major scientific and technological breakthroughs we should adopt flexible remuneration systems and reward schemes. We should explore ways to grant researchers ownership or permanent use rights over their scientific and technological outputs.

All outdated rules and regulations that sap the inspiration for innovation need to be modified or abolished without delay, and all red tape that strangles efforts to unlock innovation need to be torn clean away.

We need to take the nationwide business startup and innovation initiative to the next level.

China is home to the biggest pool of human resources and talent in the world. In this we have the greatest gold mine there is for innovation and development. We should provide services that tick every box for inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs, and establish more business startup and innovation demonstration centers. We should encourage large enterprises, universities, research institutes, and other organizations to enable access to the resources necessary for innovation, boost the platform economy and the sharing economy, and create an innovation and entrepreneurship landscape of combinations of online and offline activities, collaboration between enterprises, universities, research institutes, and end-users, and partnering between businesses of all sizes. With these efforts, we would create an upgraded edition of the national initiative to promote business startups and innovation.

We should establish a state financing guaranty fund, support leading innovative enterprises in going public, and extend nationwide the pilot preferential tax policies for venture capital investment and angel investment.

We should deepen the reform of institutions for talent development, promote free, orderly flows of human resources, support enterprises in increasing pay packages for technical workers, and strengthen the incentives for highly skilled personnel.

We should encourage overseas Chinese students to return to China after completing their studies to pursue business and other innovative ventures; we should create a fast track to attract more foreign talent to China. If myriad intellects are brought together and all energies are pooled, we can be sure to see China break into a sprint in innovation.

3. Deepening reforms in fundamental and key areas

We should, drawing on the important momentum generated by the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, endeavor to make new breakthroughs in reform, and continue to unleash and develop productive forces.

We should advance the reform of state capital and SOEs.

Lists of investor rights and obligations regarding oversight and regulation should be drawn up. We should deepen trial reforms in state capital investment and management companies, and grant them more decision-making power. We should continue moving forward with the improvement and restructuring of SOEs and the joint-stock reform of central government enterprises, and move faster to give shape to corporate governance structures with effective checks and balances and flexible and efficient market-based operating mechanisms. We should work consistently to make SOEs into leaner, better performers, increase the core competitiveness of their main business, and strengthen, expand, and increase returns on state capital.

Reforms introducing mixed ownership in SOEs should be moved forward actively and prudently. The system for State Council reporting to the NPC Standing Committee on the management of state-owned assets should be implemented. Our SOEs should, through reform and innovation, become front-runners in pursuing high-quality development.

We should support the development of private enterprises.

There should be no irresolution about consolidating and developing the public sector and no irresolution about encouraging, supporting, and guiding non-public sector development; we should uphold the principle of equal rights, equal opportunities, and fair rules. We should implement fully all policies and measures in support of non-public sector development, earnestly address salient problems that concern private companies, and take firm action to remove hidden barriers.

We should build a new type of cordial and clean relationship between government and business, and improve mechanisms for entrepreneurs to participate in enterprise-related policy formulation. We should inspire and protect entrepreneurship, expand the ranks of entrepreneurs, boost entrepreneur confidence, and enable private enterprises to reach their maximum potential in the market economy.

We should improve property rights systems and mechanisms for the market-based allocation of the factors of production.

The property rights system is the cornerstone of the socialist market economy. We should improve the relevant laws and regulations to see that property rights are protected, contracts are honored, the market is unified, exchanges are equal, and competition is fair. All types of infringements on property rights need to be strictly dealt with in accordance with law, and all cases involving property rights dispute complaints need to be reviewed and settled in accordance with law.

We should strengthen the protection of intellectual property, and enforce a punitive compensation system for intellectual property rights infringements. We should speed up reforms making the pricing of factors of production like technology and land increasingly market-based, deepen reform of the pricing mechanisms for resource products and public services, break government monopolies, and protect against market monopolies. We need to see that strong protection of property rights and fluid flows of the factors of production enable a great increase in market dynamism and public creativity.

We should continue structural fiscal and tax reforms.

We should advance reforms to clearly define the respective fiscal powers and expenditure responsibilities of central and local government, move quickly on formulating a plan for reforming the division of revenue, and improve the transfer payments system.

We should improve local tax systems, and prudently advance legislation on real estate tax. Personal income tax should be reformed. We should implement performance-based management across the board, ensuring the proper and secure use of fiscal budgets.

We should speed up reforms in the financial sector.

We should reform and improve the financial service system, support financial institutions in expanding their business in inclusive finance, promote the well-regulated development of small and medium local financial institutions, and focus on solving the problem of small and micro enterprises finding it tough and expensive to access financing.

We should deepen the reform to develop a multi-tiered capital market, and promote the development of the bonds and futures markets. The insurance market’s role in protecting against risk should be expanded. The system for financial regulation should be reformed. We should deepen reforms to make the interest rate and exchange rate more market-based, and see that the RMB exchange rate remains generally stable at an adaptive and equilibrium level.

We should advance institutional social reforms.

We should deepen reform of the old-age pension system, and establish a central system for enterprise employees’ basic old-age pension funds to be used inter-provincially. We should deepen comprehensive public hospital reform and make coordinated moves to reform healthcare pricing, staffing and remuneration, medicine distribution, and health insurance payment models. We should improve the quality of healthcare services and work hard to resolve the difficulties people face in accessing medical care. We should continue reforms in education, culture, and sports, fully unlocking society’s vast potential for development.

We need to build a more robust system for developing an ecological civilization.

We should reform and improve the system for ecological and environmental regulation, strengthen regulation over the use of natural ecological spaces, roll out a system of compensation for ecological and environmental damage, and improve the compensation mechanisms for ecological conservation, using more effective institutions to achieve ecological and environmental protection.

4. Fighting three critical battles

To fulfill our key annual tasks, we need to make everyone involved clear about their responsibilities, strengthen policy implementation, and ensure that every element of work is done to good, solid effect.

First, we should strive for notable progress in forestalling and defusing major risks.

At present, China’s economic and financial risks are on the whole manageable. What we need to do is to tackle both symptoms and root causes and take effective measures to defuse potential risks.

Tough measures should be taken against unlawful and criminal activities like illegal fundraising and financial fraud. Debt-to-equity swaps and business acquisitions and reorganizations, conducted in a way consistent with market principles and the rule of law, should be accelerated.

We need to see that internal risk controls are tightened in financial institutions. We should strengthen coordination in financial regulation, improve regulation over shadow banking, internet finance, and financial holding companies, and further improve financial regulation to make it more effective.

We should forestall and defuse local government debt risk. All forms of borrowing and debt underwriting that violate the law and regulations must be strictly prohibited. Provincial-level governments should assume overall responsibility for debts incurred by local governments within their jurisdictions; every level of government below the provincial level should live up to their own responsibilities, and all must take active, prudent steps to deal with outstanding debt. We should improve the standard mechanisms for local governments to secure financing. This year, local government special bonds issued are expected to total 1.35 trillion yuan, an increase of 550 billion yuan year on year, to be used as a matter of priority for financing the smooth implementation of ongoing projects; and the scope of the use of special bonds should be appropriately expanded.

The fundamentals of the Chinese economy remain sound, and we have many policy tools at our disposal. We are fully capable of forestalling systemic risks.

Second, we should step up targeted poverty alleviation.

This year, the poor rural population should be further reduced by over 10 million, including 2.8 million people to be relocated from inhospitable areas. More should be done to alleviate poverty through the development of local industries, education, healthcare, and culture, and through the development and conservation of local ecological resources. We should shore up weak links in infrastructure and public services, strengthen collaboration on poverty alleviation and paired assistance between the eastern and western regions, and focus particular attention on building people’s confidence in their ability to lift themselves out of poverty and on helping them access the education they need to do so. With all these efforts, we would create self-generated impetus for poverty reduction.

We should do more to support areas affected by extreme poverty, and the central budget’s newly enlarged poverty reduction funds and related transfer payments should be weighted toward these areas. We should tailor measures to individuals and individual households to ensure that targeted poor populations, including elderly people, people with disabilities, and people with serious diseases, receive the assistance they need. Poverty relief policies should remain unchanged for those already lifted out of poverty while the battle goes on, and the newly poor and those who slip back into poverty should receive prompt support.

Poverty alleviation funds should be better integrated and performance-based management should be strengthened. We need to take targeted measures against corruption and misconduct in poverty alleviation, and improve the methods used in evaluation and oversight. We should continue to apply the current poverty alleviation standards and ensure that poverty reduction progresses as planned and meets all standards, so that poverty alleviation work wins the approval of the people and stands the test of time.

Third, we should work to make greater progress in addressing pollution.

Gains made in the fight to defend the blue of our skies should be consolidated. This year, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions should be cut by 3 percent and a continuous decline in PM2.5 density should be achieved in key areas.

We should encourage upgrading in the steel and other industries to achieve ultra-low emissions. We should raise standards on the emission of pollutants, and set deadlines for meeting required discharge standards. We should make a big push to develop clean energy. A special program is needed to reduce exhaust emissions by diesel trucks and ships that exceed standards, and work should continue on removing old and high-emission vehicles from roads.

We should continue efforts to prevent and control water and soil pollution. This year, chemical oxygen demand and ammonia nitrogen emissions should be cut by 2 percent. Water environments in key river basins and sea areas should be improved through comprehensive measures, and thorough action should be taken to clean up black, malodorous water bodies. We should strengthen the development of sewage treatment facilities, and improve policy on charges for their services. We should strengthen sorting in solid waste and garbage disposal. We should completely prohibit garbage from being brought into China.

Efforts should be redoubled to protect and restore ecosystems, and redlines for ecological conservation should be set and observed strictly across the country. This year, more than 6.67 million hectares of land should be afforested, and crop rotation and fallow land trials should be increased to cover 2 million hectares of farmland. Groundwater should be better protected and restored; wetland protection and restoration should be expanded, and pilot reforms for the national parks system should continue. We need to impose strict controls over coastal area reclamation. Environmental laws and regulations must be strictly enforced, and those guilty must be held strictly to account. We all need to join hands and take action to build a Beautiful China where the skies are blue, the lands are green, and the waters are clear.

5. Making strong moves in the rural revitalization strategy

Plans should be well designed and the institutions and mechanisms needed to achieve integrated urban-rural development should be improved. We should rely on reform and innovation to build powerful new growth drivers for rural development.

We should advance supply-side structural reform in agriculture.

We should promote innovative development in the farming, forestry, livestock, fishing, and seed industries, and speed up work on developing modern agriculture industrial parks and areas producing local specialty agricultural products. With a focus on improving quality, we should ensure stable and optimized grain output. We should act faster to reduce excess food stockpiles. We should develop the agricultural products processing industry. The area of high-standard cropland should be increased by at least 5.33 million hectares, and the coverage of efficient water-saving irrigation should be expanded by 1.33 million hectares.

We should cultivate new types of agribusiness, improve agricultural technology, encourage whole-process, all-around development in mechanizing agriculture, and improve commercial services catering to small agricultural households. We should encourage and support returnee rural migrant workers, secondary and tertiary specialized school graduates, scientists and technicians, demobilized military personnel, and industrial and commercial businesses to get involved in developing modern agriculture and new forms and models of business in rural areas. We should make further headway with the Internet Plus Agriculture model, use multiple channels to increase rural incomes, and encourage the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries to develop in an integrated way in rural areas.

We should deepen all rural reforms.

We should implement the policy extending second-round rural land contracts by another 30 years upon expiration. We should experiment with separating the ownership rights, qualification rights, and use rights for rural land designated for housing.

We should improve the measures on offsetting cultivated land used for other purposes, and establish a mechanism that allows the surplus quotas produced by linking newly-added cropland quotas with the amount of land used for construction to be adjusted inter-provincially. All profit therefrom should be used to fight poverty and support rural revitalization.

We should deepen reforms related to grain purchasing and storage, collective property rights, collective forest tenure, state forestry areas and farms, state farms, and supply and marketing cooperatives, and see that agriculture and rural areas are full of life and dynamism.

We should promote the full development of all programs in rural areas.

We should improve healthcare, education, cultural, and other public services in rural areas. We should improve the infrastructure for supplying water and power, for information, and so on, and build or upgrade 200,000 kilometers of rural roads. Steady steps should be taken as part of a three-year campaign to improve rural living environments, and progress should be made in the Toilet Revolution and in garbage collection and disposal.

We should encourage a shift away from outdated social practices. The rural governance model, based on self-governance, rule of law, and rule of virtue, should be improved. Strong efforts should be made to train personnel serving rural revitalization. We should continue to pursue a Chinese path to socialist rural revitalization, and work faster to achieve agricultural and rural modernization.

6. Making solid progress in the coordinated regional development strategy

Regional development policies should be refined, progress should be made in equalizing access to basic public services, the gap in urban-rural and regional development should gradually be narrowed, and the comparative advantages and potential of each region should be fully leveraged.

We should create a new landscape in regional development.

We should step up support for reform and development in old revolutionary base areas, areas with large ethnic minority populations, border areas, and poor areas.

We should promote the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, with the focus on relieving Beijing of functions nonessential to its role as the capital, and develop the Xiongan New Area in line with forward-looking plans and high standards. We should move forward with developing the Yangtze Economic Belt, giving primary consideration to protecting ecosystems and pursuing green development. We should unveil and implement the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development plan, and promote in all areas mutually beneficial cooperation between the mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao.

We should draw up new guidelines for large-scale development in the western region, implement policies for revitalizing northeast China and other old industrial bases, continue to promote the rise of the central region, and support the eastern region in spearheading development.

We should give stronger support to economic transformation and development in resource-depleted areas. We need to strengthen the maritime economy, and resolutely safeguard China’s maritime rights and interests.

We should pursue better-quality new urbanization.

This year, another 13 million people should be registered as permanent urban residents, and we should speed up work on granting permanent urban residency to people originally from rural areas.

We need to improve urban planning. We should prioritize the development of public transportation, improve local amenities like food markets and parking facilities, and work faster to build accessible facilities. We should take planned steps to rebuild villages in cities and old residential areas, improve supporting utilities, and encourage the installation of elevators in old residential buildings where conditions permit. We should step up work to improve drainage pipeline networks and underground utility tunnels and to build sponge cities.

Satisfying the needs of the people is what new urbanization is all about. We need to provide services that are attentive to detail and exercise management that puts people first. Our goal is to see that every person has equal opportunity for development and to make everyday life more convenient and comfortable.

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