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E-mail China.org.cn, November 25, 2024
Shou Xiaoli:
Thank you, Mr. Lan. The floor is now open for questions. Please identify the media outlet you represent before asking questions.
Xinhua News Agency:
The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee recently held a meeting and underscored the need to ensure necessary government expenditures. What specific measures will the MOF take in this regard? Thank you.
Lan Fo'an:
Thank you for the question. Since the beginning of this year, the MOF has earnestly implemented the proactive fiscal policy, appropriately enhanced the intensity of the policy as well as has improved its quality and effectiveness. We have also strengthened guarantees with funding for people's basic livelihood and other key sectors, while maintaining a robust level of government expenditures. As a result, fiscal operations have remained generally stable and orderly, with critical expenditures being better ensured. Here are some statistics for your reference:
From January to September, general public expenditures increased by 2% year on year to 20.18 trillion yuan. Specifically, spending on social security and employment rose by 4.3%; expenditures on education rose by 1.1%; expenditures on agriculture, forestry and water conservancy increased by 6.4%; expenditures on urban and rural communities rose by 6.1%; and housing support spending rose by 2.5%. In contrast, the national general public budget revenue is lower than the target set at the beginning of the year. Thus, we will take multiple measures and comprehensive policies to achieve a balance between revenue and expenditures. As I mentioned earlier, the MOF needs to raise fiscal revenue in accordance with laws and regulations, while also avoiding the collection of tax not prescribed by law and effectively safeguarding the rights and interests of business entities. In the meantime, the MOF will work to maintain a robust level of mandatory government expenditures as well as ensure necessary and sufficient funding for key sectors. It will better leverage the role of fiscal counter-cyclical adjustments and work to accomplish the country's annual economic and social development goals. Our measures in this regard lie in the following three aspects:
First, the MOF will effectively provide additional fiscal resources. The central government has allocated 400 billion yuan from carryover quotas for local government debts. The move aims to provide additional fiscal resources for local governments, supporting them in alleviating existing debt from government investment and settling overdue payments owed to private businesses. The MOF will encourage regions with favorable conditions to put idle assets into good use, to strengthen management of state-owned enterprises' profits and to work toward increasing fiscal revenue. The MOF will also guide local governments with using budget stabilization adjustment funds and other idle funds in accordance with laws and regulations to meet the demands of safeguarding government expenditures.
Second, the MOF will effectively ensure expenditures on key sectors. In line with the directive that Party and government institutions must get used to keeping their belts tightened, the MOF will strictly control general expenditures, directing more funds to address shortcomings, strengthen weaknesses and deliver benefits to the people, so as to ensure that key expenditures will not be reduced. As you can see from the figures mentioned earlier, expenditures on key sectors have all maintained a high level of growth. In addition, the MOF will strengthen support for expenditures on critical sectors such as science and technology as well as education. It will better implement polices related to people's well-being, such as raising the basic old-age benefits for rural and non-working urban residents and the annual per person government subsidies for basic public health services. The MOF will also effectively support key strategies such as all-round rural revitalization, green development and coordinated regional development, ensuring the sound implementation of various policies set by the CPC Central Committee.
Third, the MOF will fully and properly utilize various debt funds. At present, the use of additional treasury bonds is being accelerated, and ultra-long special treasury bonds are also being issued and utilized. In terms of special-purpose bonds, there is a total of 2.3 trillion yuan in special-purpose bond funds available for use from October to December of this year. This total is with the pending issuance quota and funds that have been issued but not yet put to use. The MOF will urge local governments to effectively make good use of various funds from bond issues, expedite project implementation and ensure the timely allocation of funds based on actual needs. By doing so, our aim is to achieve tangible results and to leverage local governments' empowering roles in driving investments. Thank you.
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