Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao delivered a report on the work of the government Thursday morning at the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC).
Following are some figures from the report distributed to media before the opening of the session:
Work review in 2008
-- China's GDP topped 30 trillion yuan, up 9 percent from the year before.
-- Total government revenue was 6.13 trillion yuan, an increase of 19.5 percent.
-- Imports and exports totaled 2.56 trillion U.S.dollars, an increase of 17.8 percent.
-- A total of 11.13 million more urban residents entered the workforce.
-- Urban per capita annual disposable income reached 15,781 yuan, an increase of 8.4 percent in real terms, and rural per capita net income reached 4,761 yuan, up by 8 percent in real terms.
-- Central government budgetary spending on agriculture, rural areas and farmers was 595.5 billion yuan for the whole year, a year-on-year increase of 37.9 percent.
-- The central government invested 116.3 billion yuan in science and technology, an increase of 16.4 percent.
-- The central government allocated 42.3 billion yuan to support development of ten key energy conservation projects and environmental protection facilities.
-- A total of 814 million people, accounting for 91.5 percent of the rural population, benefited from the new type of rural cooperative medical care system.
Plan for the work and tasks in 2009
-- GDP will grow by 8 percent, while the rise in the CPI will be held around 4 percent, and the urban registered unemployment rate will be held under 4.6 percent.
-- This year's central government deficit has been set at 750 billion yuan, 570 billion yuan more than last year, plus 200-billion yuan worth of government bonds issued by the local government, making the total deficit up to 950 billion yuan.
-- The government will increase the broad money supply by about 17 percent and grant over five trillion yuan in additional loans.
-- The central government will allocate 130 billion yuan for recovery and reconstruction in regions affected by the May 12 earthquake last year.
-- Central government funding for agriculture subsidies will total 123 billion yuan, an increase of 20 billion yuan over last year.
-- Central government funding for supporting the development of small and medium-sized enterprises will increase from 3.9 billion yuan to 9.6 billion yuan.
-- The central government will allocate 146.1 billion yuan to the science and technology sector, up 25.6 percent from last year.
-- The central government will allocate 42 billion yuan for implementing a more proactive employment policy.
-- The central government plans to spend 293 billion yuan on the social safety net this year, up 17.6 percent or 43.9 billion yuan over the estimated figure for last year.
-- The central government will spend 12 billion yuan and local governments will also increase funding to raise salaries for the 12 million primary and secondary school teachers at the nine-year compulsory education stage.
(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2009)