SCIO briefing on Report on the Work of the Government
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E-mail China.org.cn, May 25, 2020
Hu Kaihong:
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this briefing held by the State Council Information Office. The third session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) opened this morning and Premier Li Keqiang delivered the annual Report on the Work of the Government. The public is paying great attention to this report. In order to help people better understand its content, we are very pleased to invite Huang Shouhong, head of the drafting team of the Report on the Work of the Government and director of the State Council Research Office, and Sun Guojun, member of the drafting team of the Report on the Work of the Government and member of the Leading Party Members Group of the State Council Research Office. They will elaborate on the report and take your questions. First, we will give the floor to Mr. Huang for an introduction.
Huang Shouhong:
Good morning, friends from the media!
This year's "two sessions", the annual sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), are very unusual and draw attention from not only Chinese citizens but also the international community. The Report on the Work of the Government delivered by Premier Li Keqiang follows the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era; adheres to the guiding principles of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the second, third, and fourth plenary sessions of the 19th CPC Central Committee and the Central Economic Work Conference of last year; and abides by a series of major decisions and deployments made by the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core on coordinating the advancement of epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development. The report reviews the government work in 2019 and the situation of epidemic control and prevention as well as the resumption of work and production so far this year. It also lays out this year’s main targets and tasks and macro policies and measures for economic and social development, and the overall plan for the next stage of work. Some of you were on the scene while some watched the delivery of the report via video link. Either way, you all could feel the atmosphere and heard the applause the delivery produced. This shows that the report has been well received by the NPC deputies and CPPCC members. Before coming to the briefing, I read some comments about it on the Internet. I feel that the report responds to public concerns and reflects their expectations. It serves to bind people together, warm people’s heart, boost their confidence, and unite them.
We all know that this COVID-19 outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern, which has changed a lot of things. In terms of the drafting of the report, we have also encountered an unprecedented new situation. Since the end of last year, we have drafted the report following due procedures, in accordance with the decisions and deployments made by the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core and the spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference. After deliberation and approval by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, the draft was sent to all regions, departments, and units to solicit opinions. We then revised the report based on the opinions received. However, influenced by the COVID-19 outbreak, major changes have occurred both at home and abroad, and the "two sessions" were postponed. According to the CPC Central Committee's decisions and deployments, recently we made major adjustments and amendments to the report. General Secretary Xi Jinping chaired two meetings of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and also presided over a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to deliberate the draft report and issued clear requirements and important instructions for the drafting and revision work, which provided a fundamental basis for the drafting work . Premier Li Keqiang took charge of the drafting and revision of the report and other leading officials of the State Council offered specific guidance. Premier Li Keqiang presided over two State Council executive meetings and one plenary meeting of the State Council to deliberate the draft.
In the process of drafting and revising the report, Premier Li Keqiang chaired several special symposiums, reaching out to the grassroots and directly listening to the opinions and suggestions of ordinary citizens. Other leaders of the State Council have also listened to people's opinions and suggestions in various ways and forms. All organs of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have put forward opinions and suggestions, as have so done all sectors of society including a vast of number of netizens. Many opinions and suggestions have been put forward, especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, concerning the trend of China’s economy, the setting of the targets for economic and social development, and the policy-making at the macro level. From the perspective of the drafting group, we certainly paid great attention to the responses from all sectors of society, especially those from netizens. For example, the online portal of the Chinese government (Gov.cn) has worked with 25 internet media platforms and government websites of all regions and departments, launching the "Share your ideas with China's Premier" internet suggestion-box event for the sixth time. The focus of the suggestions collected slightly changed after the pandemic. The recent focus has lain in five aspects, including employment, medical care, housing, income and consumption, and market entities. Gov.cn selected nearly 1,400 suggestions of a highly representative nature that were submitted to us. We have also collected netizens' opinions via the suggestion column on major portal websites such as Xinhuanet.com and People.com.cn.
In addition, as the leading organ to draft the report, the Research Office of the State Council followed the practice of recent years and held symposiums with the Ministry of Science and Technology and the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs to listen to the advice of various foreign experts. With a global view and from the perspective of international comparison, 13 renowned experts from nine countries have put forward some extraordinary opinions and suggestions for the work of Chinese government as well as for report drafting. It took us an extensive amount of time to draft the report this year, and this hasn't happened often since the reform and opening-up over 40 years ago. Correspondingly, we've spent much time to listen to opinions from various aspects, and have received a lot of suggestions from different sectors. Based on these, we constantly revise the report as the situation is changing. The global pandemic situation is changing. The achievement of domestic epidemic prevention and control is constantly expanding. The economic situation both within and outside of China also keeps changing. In order to make better judge of the economic and social development, and to better respond to the concerns of all sectors of society, we've engaged in constantly revisions. We have been revising it almost on a daily basis recently. In the coming days, we will continue our revision efforts based on the opinions of the deputies to the NPC and members of the CPPCC National Committee. That's all for the brief introduction of the drafting and revising of the Report on the Work of the Government.
The report briefly reviewed the work and achievement in 2019 and the first few months of 2020. Last year, the growth of the world economy was the slowest in the decade since the global financial crisis. International economic and trade fractions intensified. China's GDP reached 99.1 trillion yuan, nearly 100 trillion yuan, representing a 6.1% increase over the previous year. Around 13 million new jobs were added. These admirable achievements have not come easily. Originally, the economic situation in the fourth quarter is turning toward a promising side. If without the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, China's economic prospects in the first half of 2020 were expected to be fairly good. The epidemic certainly changed the situation. After the outbreak, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to the situation. General Secretary Xi Jinping has been personally commanding and deploying the deeply moving battle against the epidemic by mobilizing all resources, and blocking the spread of the virus. With the arduous efforts of people across the country and the great price we've paid, the fight to defend Wuhan city and Hubei province, the main battlefields of epidemic, has achieved decisive results. Epidemic prevention and control in China have seen a strategic achievement, and the coordinated development of economy and society has also seen a positive progress. "It is only by overcoming enormous difficulties that China has been able to contain COVID-19 in such a short time…" as stated in the report when considering these achievements. Everyone here has experienced this process, and should deeply understand this sentence. All of these fully demonstrate that the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has extraordinary capabilities to manage complicated situations, firm determination to solve difficulties and face challenges, and farsighted vision to analyze and judge the situations and to implement work. In the meantime, this also fully shows the resilience, potentials and risk-resistance of China's economy, reflecting China's unique political and institutional advantages.
Based on the analysis of both domestic and international situation, the Report on the Work of the Government presents an overall plan for the next stage of work. My understanding is, in order to comprehend the policies and arrangements for the next stage, we should follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and focus on the targets and tasks for completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all aspects. We should pay close attention to the following five points:
First, we should make sure that implementing regular COVID-19 control measures is the major premise of all our work. The epidemic is a true wild card in the next stage of our development. We have made major strategic achievements in our response to COVID-19. However, the risk of imported cases always lurks as the pandemic continues to spread across the world. Clusters of infections were reported occasionally in China and it has become more complex in regard of the possible resurgence of epidemic. China has switched the epidemic prevention and control measures from "emergency" to "regular," which will possibly be in place for quite a long time. General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed that we should stay alert against the epidemic, because once it rebounds, and gets out of control, the whole economy and society will again be disrupted. We must stay alert, but we also cannot afford further delaying our economic and social development and putting aside people's livelihood and employment. What shall we do? The CPC Central Committee proposed to improve our regular epidemic prevention and control mechanism to ensure timely detection of infections, rapid response, targeted control, and effective treatment, and ensure no possibility of an epidemic rebound. Under such premise, we should enhance our efforts to promote the comprehensive resumption of work, production, market and business, and smooth the circulation of industry, market, economy and society. All the conclusions, policies and measures regarding economic and social development presented in the work report should be implemented and advanced under the premise of regular epidemic control.
Second, we should prioritize efforts to maintain security in six areas. Facing complex and severe external environment and great downward pressure on domestic economy, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council in 2018 proposed to ensure stability on six fronts - employment, the financial sector, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment, and expectations. To cope with unprecedented difficulties and challenges this year, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council are insisting on maintaining security in six areas -job security, basic living needs, operations of market entities, food and energy security, stable industrial and supply chains, and the normal functioning of primary-level governments, with the core objective being stabilizing economic fundamentals, ensuring the bottom line in regard to people's livelihood and achieving poverty reduction goals. They are positive and progressive targets and tasks set under new circumstances. Some people seem to think those measures are passive, defensive, and negative. Actually, this is not the case. It is a progressive and forward-looking approach when we can run a little bit faster in ordinary situation. However, severely impacted by external factors, it is also a positive signal if we are able to stand fast and not retreat or fall back even slightly, but at least get ready to stride forwards as soon as possible. Facing an unprecedented impact, stabilizing the economic fundamentals means to protect social productivity as well as ensure the foundations for further development. We have nothing else to worry about when this foundation has been properly secured. The basis of economic and social development will be guaranteed if the bottom line of people's livelihood is ensured. This is done out of concern for overall stability and economic growth. You are aware that we have realized a virtuous cycle featuring improved people's livelihood and boosted consumption and economy. Therefore, when we endeavor to ensure people's basic living needs, we are securing the bottom line as well as stabilizing consumption and promoting economic development. Achieving poverty reduction goals marks completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all aspects. Poverty-stricken areas are the greatest challenge facing us. It is our most important task to eliminate poverty, a mission we must fulfill. That's why this year's policies are concentrating on ensuring stabilities on six fronts and maintaining security in six areas particularly, highlights job security, ensuring basic living needs and operations of market entities.
The third is about our understanding of poverty alleviation as an obligatory task. When defining a moderately prosperous society, the key is to observe the condition of farmers. Poverty alleviation is a symbolic benchmark of our efforts to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects, to which the CPC Central Committee attaches great importance. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has personally commanded and supervised the battle to eliminate poverty. We have made decisive achievements thanks to our unremitting efforts. According to the report, the poverty headcount ratio had fallen to 0.6% at the end of last year. The number of impoverished people in China dropped to 5.51 million from the figure of 98.99 million at the end of 2012. On March 6, General Secretary Xi Jinping attended a symposium on securing a decisive victory in poverty alleviation and delivered an important speech, issuing a mobilization order to clinch a complete victory in the fight against poverty. More than 10 million people have been lifted out of poverty each year in recent years, and only over five million people now need to achieve their own transformation. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the poverty alleviation efforts. For example, the workforce is facing difficulties in going back to work, and sales of agricultural products in some impoverished regions also encounter challenges. Therefore, people face a rising risk of falling into or returning to a state of poverty. In order to ensure final victory, according to the deployment of the CPC Central Committee, major targeted and forceful measures have been put forward in the report. China will attain its poverty alleviation target this year, which means achieving the poverty reduction goal set in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule. This is China's great contribution to the cause of global poverty reduction.
The fourth aspect relates to understanding of how to expand domestic demand as a strategic focus. China is a country with 1.4 billion people and a per capita GDP of more than $10,000. Its consumer spending has been optimizing and upgrading, and its consumer market is the world's largest, with the greatest potential. Moreover, China has gained momentum in its development in terms of new type industrialization, informatization, urbanization and agricultural modernization, and the demand for effective investment is enormous. The two points will unleash the huge potential of domestic demand. This is the biggest advantage for a major economy. As long as we unleash such potential, a constant and powerful driving force for economic growth will be created. Therefore, the report proposed implementing the strategy of expanding domestic demand, in view of the need to cope with the impact of the pandemic, the need to maintain long-term, sustained and sound economic development, and the importance of meeting people's increasing need for a better life. How to implement the strategy? The report has laid out a roadmap, which focuses on deepening supply-side structural reform, improving people's wellbeing, and boosting consumption and investment in a more coordinated, mutually-reinforcing way. Major measures have also been put forward. Economic development in different regions in China is unbalanced, representing a huge potential for economic growth and many growth drivers to expand domestic demand.
You must have paid close attention to the construction of "new infrastructure, new urbanization initiatives and major projects" put forward in the report. It refers to development of new infrastructure projects, new urbanization initiatives and traditionally defined key projects, such as railways, highways, airports and water conservancy projects. There is a broad consensus that we should expand effective investment, but here are various ideas on what should be the priority areas. The report, aiming to promote the high-quality development of the economy and meet people's needs, proposed taking the construction of "new infrastructure, new urbanization initiatives and major projects" as investment priorities. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council made this decision after much study and consideration. Moreover, it was also determined after listening to the views of all sectors of society. Such priorities will not only boost consumption and benefit the people, but also facilitate structural adjustments and enhance the sustainability of growth. It will serve multiple purposes. The construction of new infrastructure serves as a driver to promote high-quality development and meet people's demand for consumption upgrading. Counties are priorities in development of new urbanization. In order to meet the growing demand of rural residents to work and settle in county seats, it is necessary to support them to improve services and carrying capacity. It is also necessary to begin the renovation of old urban residential communities. In regard to the construction of railways, highways, airports, as well as water conservancy projects and energy projects, many are closely related to people's quality of life. Therefore, the construction of "new infrastructure, new urbanization initiatives and major projects" is a major measure which not only prioritizes people's wellbeing, but helps support expansion of domestic demand.
Fifth, grasp the greater logic of reform and opening up. Previously, some people worried that in order to cope with the impact of the epidemic, we might take the old path of initiating rash and ineffective projects while adopting extensive growth, or take measures to maintain short-term growth but which would harm long-term development. Because some measures are conducive to stabilizing growth in the short term, but if they are handled badly, they will leave residual effects. To cope with unprecedented challenges and achieve our development goals and tasks, there are many specific policies and measures we can take, but what should be the basis? According to the decisions of the CPC Central Committee, the report clearly states that we need to "pursue reform and opening up as a means to stabilize employment, ensure people's wellbeing, stimulate consumption, energize the market, and achieve stable growth. We need to blaze a new path that enables us to respond effectively to shocks and sustain a positive growth cycle." Relying on the approach of reform and opening up, we can stimulate creativity in all aspects of society, stabilize employment and protect people's livelihood, then there will naturally be consumption. And with consumption, the market will be stimulated, effective investment will be driven, and growth will be stabilized. The reform and opening up policy has been an amazing weapon for China to make tremendous achievements over the past 40 years. No matter what difficulties and challenges it has encountered during this time, this effective weapon has been tried and has succeeded again and again, with no exception. The new measures proposed in the report to promote socioeconomic development include ensuring stability on the six fronts and security in the six areas. (The six fronts refer to employment, the financial sector, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment, and expectations. The six areas refer to job security, basic living needs, operations of market entities, food and energy security, industrial and supply chains, and the normal functioning of primary-level governments.) It can be said that they follow the "scriptures" of reform and opening up, use the "approaches" of reform and opening up, and "walk the path" of reform and opening up. This allows the market to play a decisive role in the allocation of resources and the government to better play its role.
Next, my colleague Mr. Sun Guojun and I are willing to answer any questions you may have on the drafting of the report.
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