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| 2019 |
| Quotable Quotes From the Report on the Work of the Government for 2019 | |
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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers a government work report at the opening meeting of the second session of the 13th National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 5, 2019 (XINHUA) The 13th National People's Congress, China's national legislature, opened its second session on March 5. Premier Li Keqiang delivered the Report on the Work of the Government, which prioritizes strengthening people’s sense of gain. The following are 19 quotes from the report: Under the guidance of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, we, the Chinese people of all ethnic groups, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, forged ahead and overcame whatever difficulties lie in our way. The main targets we set for ourselves this year for economic and social developments were accomplished. In building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, we made major progress toward a decisive victory. The three critical battles got off to a good start. We forestalled and defused major risks. The macro leverage ratio trended toward a stable level; the financial sector was generally stable. Precision poverty alleviation made significant progress, with the rural poor population reduced by 13.86 million, including 2.8 million people assisted through relocation from inhospitable areas. Pollution prevention and control was strengthened, and PM2.5 density continued to fall. Marked achievements were also made in regard to ecological conservation. New breakthroughs were made in reform and opening up. New progress was made in reform in key fields. Some of our reforms included editing the negative list system for market access, which has since been implemented. We will continue to streamline administration and delegate power, improve regulation, and upgrade services as part of further improvement plans, and we hope to see our business environment excel as it rose significantly in international rankings. A comprehensive study of progress in and outside of China indicates that we will face a more complicated environment as we continue to pursue development. There will be foreseeable and unforeseen risks and challenges that are greater in number and size, and we must be prepared to handle them. The difficulties we face must not be underestimated, but our confidence must remain undeterred by these challenges regardless. We will implement larger-scale tax cuts. This move will have an accommodative effect on the economy whilst strengthening the basis for sustained growth and ensuring fiscal sustainability. Tax cuts are necessary to lighten the burden on businesses and boost market dynamism. They also work to improve the tax system and achieve better income distribution. This policy decision was the result of considerations taken at the macro policy level in support of the efforts to ensure stable economic growth, employment, and structural adjustments. In regards to employment, the government is working to ensure employment for key groups, namely college graduates, demobilized military personnel and rural migrant workers. We recognize the importance of giving greater employment support for urban jobseekers facing difficulties in securing employment, especially when they face seeming insurmountable obstacles. Enterprises hiring staff from rural areas as well as urban residents registered as unemployed for at least six months will be entitled to a fixed amount of tax and fee deductions for three years. We will strengthen support for flexible employment and new forms of employment. We will also work to protect against and stop gender and identity discrimination in employment. Furthermore, by refining major reforms and the development of modern vocational education, we will move faster to train the different types of technicians and skilled workers urgently needed in China's development, enabling more young people to gain professional skills and realize their potential and producing a vast range of talent ready to shine bright. This year, average broadband service rates for small and medium enterprises will be lowered by another 15 percent, and average rates for mobile Internet services will be further cut by more than 20 percent. Cellphone subscribers nationwide will be able to keep their numbers while switching carriers, and cellphone packages will be regulated to promote fee cuts for consumers. We will promote steady growth in consumption. This aim can be realized by implementing measures to increase urban and rural personal incomes which will boost the capacity for consumption. The revised Individual Income Tax Law will also be administered so that 80 million taxpayers to whom reductions apply get the most out of these policies. We will launch an initiative to drive down school dropout rates and ensure regular attendance, and achieve clear reductions in rural student dropout rates in poor areas. The government will continue to increase the size of special enrollment quotas at key universities for students from rural and poor areas, and make full use of the fundamental role of education in stopping poverty from being passed on to the next generation. Measures have been put in place to improve agriculture, particularly grain production. We must ensure, through our efforts, food supply for nearly 1.4 billion people living in China. To this end, we will keep grain output stable, and increase the area of high-standard cropland by no less than 5.33 million hectares. Green development is a critical element of modernizing an economy which will also provide a fundamental solution to pollution. We will further relax controls over market access, shorten the negative list for foreign investment, and permit wholly foreign funded enterprises to operate in more sectors. Regarding trade, China will grant greater autonomy to pilot free trade zones to carry out reform and innovation, expand the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, step up the building of the China (Hainan) Pilot Free Trade Zone, and explore the opening of a free trade port with Chinese features. We will support national-level economic development zones, new- and high-tech development zones, and new areas in implementing trial reforms developed in pilot free trade zones, so that they can better lead their surrounding areas and grow into pacesetters of reform and opening up. We will promote the joint building of the Belt and Road Initiative. We will adhere to the principle of pursuing shared growth through discussion and collaboration and observe market principles and international rules. We will see enterprises are the main actors, advance infrastructural connectivity, strengthen international cooperation on production capacity, and expand third-party market cooperation. China is committed to safeguarding economic globalization and free trade, and is actively involved in the reform of the World Trade Organization. We will accelerate the establishment of a network of high-standard free trade areas. The government also intends to advance negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the China-Japan-ROK Free Trade Agreement, and the China-EU Investment Agreement, and we will continue to promote trade negotiations with the U.S. China is committed to mutually beneficial cooperation, win-win development and settling trade disputes through discussions as equals. We faithfully honor our commitments and are resolute in safeguarding our lawful rights and interests. At every level of government, we must accept the lawful oversight of the people’s congresses, and their standing committees at the corresponding level. We should readily subject ourselves to the democratic oversight of CPPCC committees, and public oversight, so that power is exercised with transparency. Everything we do in the government should be what the people want. The tremendous achievements of China’s reform and development to date have been made by our officials and people through perseverance and hard work. To achieve the Two Centenary Goals, and let the happiness and ambitions of the Chinese people be realized, we need to build on the hard work we have already put in and ensure further progress. The world today faces profound changes of a kind unseen in a century. China will remain on the path of peaceful development, pursue mutually beneficial opening up, and resolutely uphold multilateralism and the international system built around the United Nations. We will participate actively in reforming and improving the global governance system and firmly uphold an open world economy to build a human community with a shared future. |
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