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1) The fight against poverty began in full swing.
The plan for poverty elimination during the 13th Five-Year Plan period was released and implemented, and over 100 billion yuan was allocated to government poverty-alleviation funds nationwide. The plan for relocating people from inhospitable areas during the 13th Five-Year Plan period was published and implemented. In line with this, related projects were launched in 22 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government, and last year's objective to provide housing for the 2.49 million people relocated from inhospitable areas was completed on time. We made great progress in reducing poverty by providing financial support and by promoting the development of locally viable industries, education, transportation, water conservancy projects, tourism, photovoltaic power facilities, e-commerce, and work-relief programs in poor areas. Coordination on poverty reduction between the western and eastern regions continued to grow. We worked to ensure the implementation of the provincial plan for promoting development and fighting poverty in contiguous poor areas during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. Greater support was given to promote revitalization and development and to reduce poverty in old revolutionary base areas such as the Sichuan-Shaanxi region and the former Central Soviet Area in southern Jiangxi. We supported extremely poor autonomous prefectures with concentrations of ethnic minorities, such as Liangshan in Sichuan, Nujiang in Yunnan, and Linxia in Gansu, to ensure they can work more quickly in building a moderately prosperous society.
2) The capacity to provide social security was constantly enhanced.
Per capita disposable personal income increased by 6.3% in real terms, and the growth rate of rural income was greater than that of urban income for the seventh year in a row. Basic pension benefits for retirees were raised by approximately 6.5%. The number of people under the basic medical insurance system exceeded 1.3 billion, and the government subsidy for basic medical insurance for rural and non-working urban residents increased from 380 yuan to 420 yuan per capita per annum. The system for granting living allowances to people with disabilities who face financial difficulties and providing a care subsidy to people with serious disabilities was put in place across the country.
3) The supply of better public services was maintained.
The gross enrollment ratio for preschool education came to 77.4%; the retention rate of nine-year compulsory education grew to 93.4%; and the gross enrollment ratio for senior secondary education reached 87.5%. The gross enrollment ratio for higher education stood at 42.7%, surpassing the average level of upper-middle-income countries. The modern vocational education system was further improved.
The system for providing basic medical care services for rural and urban residents also improved and the government subsidy for basic public health services increased to 45 yuan per capita per annum, helping to make access to services far more equitable. The Healthy China 2030 Program was issued and implemented. The number of occupational physicians and physician assistants increased to 2.31 per 1,000 people and the number of general practitioners grew to 1.53 per 10,000 people. We ensured smooth implementation of the policy to allow couples to have two children and further improved childbirth services; and China celebrated the births of 17.86 million babies over the course of the year.
The system of public cultural services was further strengthened and all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government worked out standards for providing these services. The basic elements underlying the project to develop and pass on fine Chinese cultural traditions, such as the implementation guidelines, were formulated. The Fitness for All initiative was launched, and Chinese athletes once again achieved great success at the Olympic and Paralympic Games which were held in Rio de Janeiro. Winter, water, and aviation sports, mountaineering and outdoor pursuits, as well as other sports all developed at a faster pace.
Box 13: Supply of Public Services
4) The construction of government-subsidized housing progressed steadily.
We supported government-subsidized housing projects, such as the rebuilding of run-down areas, by increasing central government budgetary investment and special funding in this area and continuing to secure direct financing through corporate bond issuance. In 2016, we rebuilt over six million housing units in run-down urban areas and renovated over 3.8 million dilapidated rural houses.
In assessing the overall situation related to the targets set out in the 2016 Plan, we can see that major targets for national and social development, such as the economic growth rate, employment levels, the consumer price index, and the balance of payments, were kept within proper range. While our performance in relation to targets reflecting the quality and benefits of development, such as those concerning scientific and technological innovation, ecological conservation and environmental protection, and people's wellbeing, was further improved. Overall, the 2016 Plan was successfully implemented.
All 19 obligatory targets were achieved as planned. Of the 43 anticipatory targets, 38 were either on target or exceeded, while performance in relation to the remaining five-targets for the primary industry, fixed-asset investment, the total import and export volume of goods, M2 money supply growth rate, and per capita disposable income of urban residents-fell short of expectations. It should be clarified that the anticipatory targets are neither mandatory nor predicted; as development objectives that the government hopes to meet, they are a reflection of the anticipated direction of national development and policy orientation. The actual performance for these targets may be higher or lower than the planned figures.
The major reasons for the discrepancies between the projected figures for these anticipatory targets and actual performance are as follows:
First, to deal with a period of supply in agricultural products outstripping demand as well as a build-up in the inventory of agricultural products and a resulting trend of depressed prices, we took the initiative to adjust what and how much we grow and breed, which caused the output of some major agricultural products to drop off. As a result, the increase in the value-added of the primary industry was slightly lower than the planned figure.
Second, a combination of insufficient market demand, a decrease in returns on investment, and low confidence among enterprises gave rise to considerable downward pressure on investment, particularly investment from private sources and in the manufacturing sector. These factors, as well as a prolonged and larger-than-expected drop in fixed-asset investment prices resulted in the increase in fixed-asset investment being lower than the anticipatory target.
Third, a range of factors, such as a stuttering global economic recovery, weak demand in the international trade market, and increasing protectionism against China, meant that, although the total import and export volume of goods began to rise steadily, it still fell short of projected figure.
Fourth, we needed to ensure that a favorable monetary and financial environment for supply-side structural reform was created. So while ensuring there was sufficient support in place for the real economy, we stayed away from strong stimulus policies affecting money supply that would have an economy-wide impact, and instead worked to deleverage, guard against risks, and prevent an asset price bubble. As a result, the growth rate of M2 money supply fell short of projected figure.
Fifth, in assessing the situation in relation to targets regarding income, we see that increases in per capita disposable personal income stayed basically in step with economic growth. The influence of downward pressure on the economy, however, caused the growth of salary-based incomes for employees in certain industries to slacken. As a result, increase in urban per capita disposable income fell short of the planned figure. (more)
