LongBench v2 / 66ec41d3821e116aacb1c874 / Which of the following suggestions for the new year's initiatives is correct?

REPORT ON THE WORK OF THE GOVERNMENT  
Delivered at the First Session of the 14th National People’s Congress of 
the People’s Republic of China on March 5, 2023     
Li Keqiang   
Premier of the State Council                   
The official Chinese version of this report will be released by Xinhua News Agency.   
Note by NPC Observer: For the version 
approved by the NPC on March 13, 2023, 
please visit this link.


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Fellow Deputies, 
 
The term of this government is about to come to a close. On behalf of the State 
Council, I will now report to you on the work of the government for your 
deliberation and approval and also for comments from members of the National 
Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). 
 
I. A Review of Our Work in 2022 and over the Past Five Years 
 
 
The year 2022 was a year of great importance in the history of the Communist 
Party of China (CPC) and our country. The Party successfully convened its 20th 
National Congress, during which it drew up an inspiring blueprint for building 
China into a modern socialist country in all respects. In the face of high winds and 
choppy waters in the international environment and challenging tasks in 
promoting reform, development, and stability at home, the Party Central 
Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core brought together the Chinese 
people of all ethnic groups and led them in meeting difficulties head-on. We acted 
on the requirements of responding effectively to Covid-19, maintaining economic 
stability, and ensuring security in development, and intensified macro regulation. 
As a result, we stabilized the economy, steadily enhanced development quality, 
and maintained overall social stability, securing new and hard-won achievements 
in China’s development. 
Over the past year, China’s economy was impacted by Covid-19 and other 
domestic and international factors beyond our expectations. However, under the 
strong leadership of the Party Central Committee, we carried out Covid-19 
response and pursued economic and social development in an effective and 
well-coordinated way; and we improved and adjusted response measures in view 
of virus variations and the evolving dynamics of epidemic prevention and control.  
Confronted with new downward pressure on the economy, we acted 
decisively and made timely adjustments. We made use of the policy tools kept in 
reserve over recent years, proactively adopted predetermined policies, and 
remained firm in advancing supply-side structural reform. We unveiled and 
implemented a full range of policies and follow-up measures to stabilize the 
economy.  
We formulated plans for the task of ensuring overall economic stability. We 


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stepped up supervision and support to ensure policy implementation by local 
governments and assisted them in fully leveraging the potential of policies, and 
supported major economically developed provinces in shouldering greater 
responsibility. We gave priority to ensuring stable growth, employment, and prices, 
thus bringing about a steady economic recovery.  
Gross domestic product (GDP) of the year grew by 3 percent. A total of 12.06 
million urban jobs were added, with the year-end surveyed urban unemployment 
rate falling to 5.5 percent. The consumer price index (CPI) rose by 2 percent. The 
total volume of trade in goods rose by 7.7 percent. The deficit-to-GDP ratio was 
kept at 2.8 percent, and central government revenue and expenditure were in line 
with budget projections, with expenditure slightly lower than the budgeted figure. 
A basic equilibrium was maintained in the balance of payments, and the RMB 
exchange rate remained stable relative to other major global currencies. Grain 
output reached 685 million metric tons, an increase of 3.7 million metric tons. The 
environment continued to improve.  
 
Overcoming great difficulties and challenges, we succeeded in maintaining 
overall stable economic performance. Amid a complex and fluid environment, we 
were able to generally accomplish the main targets and tasks for the year. Such 
achievements are a testament to the tremendous resilience of China’s economy. 
 
 
We stepped up relief support to enterprises facing growing difficulties in 
operation and production. Impacted by Covid-19 and other factors, many 
enterprises and self-employed individuals experienced acute distress. Last year, 
value-added tax (VAT) credit refunds exceeded 2.4 trillion yuan, newly 
implemented tax and fee cuts amounted to more than 1 trillion yuan, and 
postponements were introduced for tax and fee payments of over 750 billion yuan. 
To ensure implementation of tax and fee reduction policies, the central government 
significantly increased transfer payments to local governments.  
 
We provided guidance to financial institutions on increasing credit supply and 
lowering financing costs. Average interest rates on new enterprise loans fell to the 
lowest level on record, and time-limited cuts were made to interest rates on 
inclusive loans to micro and small businesses. We injected fresh vitality into the 
market through reform. Many micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and 
self-employed individuals in various sectors have benefited as a result.  
To address lack of effective demand, we adopted a combination of measures to 
expand investment, stimulate consumption, and stabilize foreign trade.  


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Consumer spending was hit hard last year, and investment also suffered. In 
response, we launched several major projects set out in the 14th Five-Year Plan 
ahead of schedule, expedited the processes of issuing and utilizing local 
government special-purpose bonds, made better use of carryover quotas for 
special-purpose bonds in accordance with the law, and issued development and 
policy-backed financial instruments in two batches totaling 740 billion yuan to 
replenish the capital for major projects.  
We used targeted re-lending, loan interest subsidies, and other policies to 
support key sectors in upgrading equipment. To speed up project screening, 
different 
government 
departments 
established 
joint 
offices 
and 
a 
commitment-based approval system was adopted for local governments.  
In 2022, investments in infrastructure and the manufacturing sector increased 
by 9.4 percent and 9.1 percent respectively, while fixed-asset investment increased 
by 5.1 percent. This has, to some degree, offset the contraction in consumption. We 
fostered new modes and new forms of consumer spending and adopted measures 
including reductions and exemptions on vehicle purchase tax to boost spending on 
automobiles. As a result, sales of new-energy vehicles surged by 93.4 percent.  
Initiatives were launched to stimulate spending on green and smart home 
appliances and green building materials in rural areas. Thanks to these efforts, we 
kept total retail sales of consumer products generally stable.  
We adopted financial measures to meet people’s demand for buying their first 
home or improving their housing situation and took concrete steps to ensure that 
overdue housing projects were completed and delivered to meet people’s basic 
living needs.  
We assisted foreign trade enterprises in tackling difficulties relating to raw 
materials, labor, and logistics, improved loading, unloading and transport 
efficiency in ports, and responded promptly to the concerns of foreign-funded 
enterprises and helped resolve their problems. The volume of trade in goods 
exceeded expectations, and utilized foreign investment increased steadily. 
In response to significant employment pressure, we boosted policy support to 
stabilize and increase employment. Last year, the surveyed urban unemployment 
rate saw a notable increase for some time. Therefore, we put a stronger emphasis 
on ensuring stable employment when implementing fiscal, tax, financial, and 
investment policies. We postponed the payment of social insurance premiums by 
enterprises in distressed sectors, significantly increased the proportion of 


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unemployment insurance funds returned to enterprises to keep payrolls stable, 
and raised subsidies for stabilizing and increasing employment. To support 
business startups, we implemented policies on guaranteed loans and on reducing 
or waiving the rent for state-owned premises.  
We made college graduates employment a priority and provided targeted 
assistance to people who had difficulty finding employment. Work-relief programs 
in major projects were expanded. More than 32 million people were lifted out of 
poverty with new employment, maintaining a steady increase. Thanks to these 
efforts, overall employment remained stable. 
In the face of a global surge in inflation, we strived to ensure market supply 
and stable prices, particularly those of food and energy. Last year, global inflation 
rocketed to a 40-year high, exerting great pressure on domestic price stability.  
We responded effectively to major natural disasters such as floods and 
droughts. To see that no time was lost during the planting and harvest seasons, we 
worked to ensure unrestricted movement of agricultural machines on public roads 
and saw that farming was free from disruptions.  
We issued agricultural supply subsidies to grain growers in three installments. 
All this helped ensure good grain harvests and stable supplies of major 
agricultural products.  
We leveraged the role of coal as a major source of energy, increased advanced 
coal production capacity and stepped up support for power plants and 
heat-supply enterprises to ensure energy supplies. Despite high global inflation, 
we have kept overall prices at a comparatively low level, which is truly 
remarkable. 
To assist people experiencing increased difficulties in their lives, we bolstered 
support to ensure their basic living needs. We took time-limited measures to 
expand the scope of subsistence allowances and other social security policies to 
cover more groups in difficulty. Continuing the policy on expanding 
unemployment insurance coverage, we provided unemployment benefits to over 
10 million people in total. We also provided price subsidies for more people on low 
incomes, benefiting about 67 million in all.  
We waived interest payments on government-subsidized student loans to 
college graduates with financial difficulties and granted extensions on the principal 
repayments for these loans. We provided emergency assistance to people hit hard 
by the epidemic or natural disasters, thus ensuring that the basic living needs of all 


5 
 
our people were met.  
We also fully implemented the plans set forth at the Central Conference on 
Economic Work and in the Report on the Work of the Government approved at the 
Fifth Session of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC), and made coordinated 
advances in all fields of economic and social development.  
Thanks to our dedicated work, consumer demand, market distribution, 
industrial production, and business expectations have all markedly improved. 
China’s economy is staging a steady recovery and demonstrating vast potential 
and momentum for further growth. 
 
Fellow Deputies, 
 
The past five years have been truly momentous and remarkable. Under the 
strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its 
core, we have met numerous tests, including accelerated changes on the 
international landscape, the Covid-19 pandemic, and a domestic economic 
slowdown.  
We both won the critical battle against poverty and finished building a 
moderately prosperous society in all respects as scheduled, thus attaining the First 
Centenary Goal and embarking on a new journey to realize the Second Centenary 
Goal.  
All localities and government departments followed the guidance of Xi Jinping 
Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era; gained a deep 
understanding of the decisive significance of establishing Comrade Xi Jinping’s 
core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and 
establishing the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese 
Characteristics for a New Era; enhanced their consciousness of the need to 
maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, 
and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership; stayed confident in the 
path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics; upheld 
Comrade Xi Jinping’s core position on the Party Central Committee and in the 
Party as a whole and upheld the Central Committee’s authority and its centralized, 
unified leadership; and fully acted on the guiding principles from the 19th CPC 
National Congress and the plenary sessions of the 19th Party Central Committee 
and thoroughly implemented the guiding principles from the Party’s 20th National 
Congress.  


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We stayed true to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring 
stability. We fully and faithfully applied the new development philosophy on all 
fronts, worked to create a new pattern of development, promoted high-quality 
development, and ensured both development and security. As a result, we have 
made major achievements in economic and social development, which garnered 
recognition around the world. 
 
-Economic strength reached new heights.  
China’s GDP increased to 121 trillion yuan, registering an annual growth rate 
of 5.2 percent over the past five years. Over the past decade, GDP has increased by 
almost 70 trillion yuan at an annual rate of 6.2 percent. We have achieved a 
medium-high rate of economic growth given our large economic aggregate and 
transitioned to high-quality development. Government revenue increased to 20.4 
trillion yuan. Annual grain output remained steady at over 650 million metric tons 
for several consecutive years. The total value-added of industry exceeded the 
40-trillion-yuan mark, and average yearly urban jobs growth hit more than 12.7 
million. Foreign exchange reserves remained stable at over US$3 trillion. These 
figures show that China’s economic strength has increased significantly. 
 
- The critical fight against poverty was won.  
Thanks to eight years of continued efforts, close to 100 million poor rural 
residents and a total of 832 impoverished counties were lifted from poverty, 
including more than 9.6 million poverty-stricken people relocated from 
inhospitable areas. We have thus, once and for all, resolved the problem of 
absolute poverty in China. 
 
-Fruitful gains were made in scientific and technological innovation.  
We established a new system for mobilizing resources nationwide to make key 
technological breakthroughs, opened a number of national laboratories, and 
reorganized key national laboratories in several batches.  
Breakthroughs were made in core technologies in key fields, and a stream of 
innovations emerged in areas such as manned spaceflight, lunar and Martian 
exploration, deep sea and deep earth probes, supercomputers, satellite navigation, 
quantum information, nuclear power technology, airliner manufacturing, and 
artificial intelligence.  
As spending on R&D increased from 2.1 percent to over 2.5 percent of GDP, 
the contribution of scientific and technological progress to economic growth 
exceeded 60 percent. The capacity of innovation to sustain development was 


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enhanced continuously. 
 
-The economic structure was further improved.  
The value-added of high-tech manufacturing and of equipment manufacturing 
increased by an annual average of 10.6 percent and 7.9 percent respectively. 
China’s digital economy continued to grow in strength. The value-added of new 
industries and new business forms and models accounted for over 17 percent of 
GDP. We fully implemented the coordinated regional development strategy and 
major regional development strategies. The share of permanent urban residents in 
the total population rose from 60.2 percent to 65.2 percent. The rural revitalization 
strategy was implemented across the board. New drivers of growth developed at a 
much faster pace. 
 
-Infrastructure was further upgraded.  
Work began on the construction of major water conservancy projects such as 
those against floods and droughts and those for water diversion. The length of 
in-service high-speed railways increased from 25,000 kilometers to 42,000 
kilometers, and the expressway network expanded from 136,000 kilometers to 
177,000 kilometers. In rural areas, 1.25 million kilometers of road were newly built 
or upgraded. The passenger handling capacity of airports increased by 400 million. 
Installed power capacity increased by more than 40 percent. Gigabit internet 
services covered all prefecture-level cities, and broadband internet was installed in 
every administrative village in China. 
 
-Reform and opening up were deepened.  
We deepened reform and opening up across the board in an effort to create a 
new pattern of development. We further promoted supply-side structural reform 
and reforms to streamline government administration, delegate power, improve 
regulation, and upgrade services. Thanks to these endeavors, a notable 
improvement has been made in the business environment.  
Joint efforts to advance the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) made solid headway. 
China played its part for the entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive 
Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, which has created the world’s largest 
free trade zone. China’s total volume of trade in goods exceeded 40 trillion yuan, 
registering an annual growth rate of 8.6 percent. It has thus been the top global 
trader for many years running. China is now both a major destination for foreign 
investment and a leading global outbound investor. 
 
-The quality of the eco-environment improved significantly.  


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Energy consumption per unit of GDP dropped by 8.1 percent, and carbon 
dioxide emissions fell by 14.1 percent. In cities at and above the prefecture level, 
the average concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) dropped by 27.5 
percent and the number of days with heavy air pollution fell by over 50 percent. 
The proportion of surface water bodies of good quality increased from 67.9 percent 
to 87.9 percent.  
The first group of national parks were established, and over 9,000 nature 
reserves spanning all categories and levels were established. We have made 
significant strides in building a Beautiful China. 
 
-Living standards rose steadily.  
Personal income grew generally in step with economic growth. The CPI rose at 
an annual rate of 2.1 percent. The average length of schooling for new entrants to 
the workforce rose from 13.5 years to 14 years. Basic old-age insurance now covers 
1.05 billion people, an increase of 140 million over the past five years. Basic medical 
insurance saw steady improvement. Over the past decade, we have rebuilt more 
than 42 million housing units in run-down urban areas, and over 100 million 
people have moved into new apartments. 
 
After many years of meticulous preparation, we successfully presented the 
world with streamlined, safe, and splendid 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic 
Games, thus making great contributions to promoting the Olympic movement as 
well as solidarity and friendship among the peoples of all countries. 
 
Since Covid-19 struck more than three years ago, the CPC Central Committee 
with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has placed the people and their lives above all 
else.  
It has boosted supplies of medical resources and materials, made every effort 
to ensure treatment for all patients, effectively safeguarded our people’s health and 
safety, and improved and adjusted response policies and measures in light of 
changing conditions. The Chinese people have pulled through with fortitude and 
resilience and secured a major and decisive victory in the fight against Covid-19. 
Throughout this truly remarkable endeavor, all localities, departments, and 
organizations have made tremendous efforts, people in various sectors have 
worked together to get through tough times, and all medical personnel have 
remained fearless in the face of adversity. Most notably, our people in their 
hundreds of millions have prevailed over many difficulties and challenges, made 
great sacrifices, and played their due part. It has not been an easy journey for 


9 
 
anyone, but together we have overcome the huge challenge of Covid-19. As the 
pandemic is not yet over, we must keep working to consolidate our achievements 
in both Covid-19 response and economic and social development.  
 
Fellow Deputies, 
Over the past five years, we have fully implemented the decisions and plans of 
the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. The highlights of 
our work are as follows: 
1. We developed new ways of conducting macro regulation to keep the economy 
operating within an appropriate range.  
In response to a succession of grave challenges, including mounting 
protectionism and the Covid-19 pandemic, we adopted new ways of conducting 
macro regulation and avoided overreliance on investment as a means of achieving 
economic growth. We employed a wide range of policies including fiscal and 
monetary policies and stayed focused on helping market entities overcome 
difficulties and grow.  
We adopted a holistic approach to achieving the projected development targets 
for each year and stepped up range-based, targeted, well-timed, and precision 
regulation. We took decisive measures to step up macro policy support while 
refraining from adopting a deluge of strong stimulus policies that would eat into 
our potential for future growth.  
We worked relentlessly to ensure stability on six fronts and security in six 
areas, with a particular emphasis on the latter, in order to steer the economy 
through various trials and difficulties and sustain growth. 
We pursued a proactive fiscal policy.  
The deficit was kept at a reasonable level. Over these five years, the 
deficit-to-GDP ratio and the government debt ratio were respectively kept within 3 
percent and around 50 percent. We continued to improve the structure of 
government spending and ensured sufficient funding for key areas such as 
education, science and technology, environmental protection, and efforts to meet 
people’s basic living needs.  
We implemented a policy of large-scale tax and fee cuts with both institutional 
                                                             
 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, stable industrial and supply chains, and the normal functioning of 
primary-level governments. 


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arrangements and time-limited measures. Tax and fee reductions were intensified 
following the outbreak of Covid-19, and they became a pivotal part of our response 
to the epidemic. We completed the task of replacing business tax with value-added 
tax and abolished the former. The rate of VAT was lowered from 17 percent to 13 
percent in many sectors where VAT accounts for the largest share of tax receipts. 
The VAT threshold was raised from 30,000 yuan to 150,000 yuan of monthly sales 
for small-scale taxpayers in a phased way, and the minimum corporate income tax 
rate was cut from 10 percent to 2.5 percent in real terms for micro and small 
businesses.  
Tax and fee cuts are equitable, inclusive, effective, and directly accessible for 
those in need. Over the past five years, tax cuts and fee reductions respectively 
totaled 5.4 trillion yuan and 2.8 trillion yuan. This policy not only helped 
enterprises overcome difficulties and stay afloat, but also nurtured business 
growth and cultivated sources of tax revenue.  
On average, over 11 million market entities including enterprises and 
self-employed individuals were newly registered with the tax authorities each year, 
and the central government met all of its annual targets for budgetary revenue. 
With VAT credit refunds taken into account, national fiscal revenue almost 
doubled over the past decade. 
We channeled more financial resources toward lower levels of government, 
with the share of transfer payments to local governments rising to about 70 percent 
of central government expenditures. We introduced direct allocation of central 
budgetary funds to prefecture- and county-level governments and made it a 
regular practice.  
At every level, governments kept their belts tightened by strictly controlling 
general expenditures, and central government departments led the way in cutting 
back spending. We also put idle funds and assets to good use and tapped every 
means possible to see that these funds were used to benefit businesses and people. 
Over 70 percent of government expenditures went toward ensuring the people’s 
wellbeing. 
We continued a prudent monetary policy.  
We made flexible policy adjustments in view of new developments and 
maintained reasonably sufficient liquidity. We made good use of policy 
instruments such as required reserve ratio reductions and re-lending to increase 
effective support for the real economy and alleviate the difficulties faced by 


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MSMEs in accessing affordable financing.  
The balance of loans to the manufacturing sector increased from 16.3 trillion 
yuan to 27.4 trillion yuan. Inclusive loans to micro and small businesses increased 
at an annual rate of 24%, rising from 8.2 trillion yuan to 23.8 trillion yuan, with the 
average interest rate falling by 1.5 percentage points compared to five years ago.  
We saw that the RMB exchange rate floated with greater flexibility at an 
adaptive, balanced level while remaining generally stable. We completely paid off 
the outstanding debt of 1.4486 trillion yuan incurred in the reform of financial 
institutions since the beginning of this century.  
Using market- and law-based means, we took targeted steps to deal with the 
risks of several large enterprise groups and made steady headway in defusing 
risks in high-risk small and medium-sized financial institutions.  
Large financial institutions registered sound growth, financial systems 
operated in a robust and stable manner, and we ensured that no systemic risks 
arose.  
We pursued an employment-first policy.  
Stable employment has remained a key indicator of the economy operating 
within the appropriate range. We worked hard to promote market-based 
employment and stepped up efforts to support enterprises in stabilizing and 
expanding employment.  
The ratio of enterprise contributions to basic old-age insurance was lowered 
from 20 percent to 16 percent and the national social security fund was replenished 
to expand its scale from 1.8 trillion yuan to over 2.5 trillion yuan.  
We implemented policies on refunding unemployment insurance funds to 
keep employment stable and granting training subsidies for job retention to 
hard-hit businesses. To promote entrepreneurship and innovation nationwide, we 
have held National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Week for eight consecutive 
years, which racked up a cumulative participation of more than 520 million. We 
encouraged job creation through business startups, and new and flexible 
employment forms became an important source of employment and income 
growth.  
We took solid measures to ensure employment for college graduates, 
ex-service personnel, and rural migrant workers. We used unemployment 
insurance funds and other funds to support skills training programs. We carried 
out a three-year action plan for expanding enrollment in vocational colleges and 


12 
 
upgrading vocational skills. This drive saw vocational colleges enrolling an 
additional 4.13 million students and providing over 83 million training 
opportunities. Employment is the cornerstone of people’s wellbeing and the 
wellspring of wealth. It is truly remarkable that China, a big country with over 1.4 
billion people, has kept employment stable, and such stability is a source of 
tremendous creativity for our country.  
Prices were kept generally stable.  
We refrained from repeatedly increasing the deficit by a large margin in 
response to shocks and printing an excessive amount of money. This created the 
macro conditions needed for stabilizing prices. We redoubled efforts to bolster 
agricultural production, ensured better linkage between production and sales and 
managed reserves more effectively, and ensured a stable supply of agricultural 
products, such as grain, hogs, and vegetables.  
We promptly addressed shortages of coal and electricity to meet residential 
and production energy needs. Smooth transportation and logistics were ensured. 
Market oversight was strengthened to maintain price stability.  
For the past decade, CPI increases in China have been kept at a comparatively 
low level of around 2 percent. The difficulty of such an achievement should not be 
underestimated. This has been conducive to maintaining the order of the market 
economy, to creating leeway for macro policy implementation, and most 
importantly, to better meeting the basic living needs of our people.  
2. We secured victory in the critical battle against poverty within the set time 
frame and consolidated and built on our gains in poverty alleviation. 
The hardest, most arduous tasks in building a moderately prosperous society 
in all respects were in rural areas and in impoverished regions in particular. We 
carried out a policy of targeted poverty alleviation, with a focus on deeply 
impoverished areas such as the three regions and the three prefectures.  
We weighted policy support toward these areas, provided funding for poverty 
alleviation efforts on a priority basis, and placed counties and villages facing 
difficulty in poverty alleviation under special supervision to ensure that they met 
poverty alleviation targets.  
We provided assistance to develop local industries and boost employment, 
ecological conservation, education, healthcare, social security and other fields of 
                                                             
 The three regions refer to Tibet, the four southern Xinjiang prefectures of Hotan, Aksu, Kashi, and 
Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture of Kizilsu, and the Tibetan ethnic areas in Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, and 
Qinghai provinces. The three prefectures are Liangshan in Sichuan, Nujiang in Yunnan, and Linxia in Gansu. 


13 
 
endeavor, strengthened follow-up support for people relocated from inhospitable 
areas, and made major efforts to meet the basic food and clothing needs of poor 
people and see that they had access to compulsory education, basic medical 
services, and safe housing and drinking water.  
Rural residents in impoverished regions saw their incomes grow by a 
significant margin, and their working and living conditions noticeably improved.  
We worked both to consolidate and build on our achievements in poverty 
alleviation and to promote the revitalization of rural areas. Major poverty relief 
policies remained largely unchanged during the transition period following the 
elimination of absolute poverty. We made sure that though poverty had been 
eliminated, all of the related responsibilities, policies, support, and oversight 
remained in place.  
We established effective monitoring and assistance mechanisms to prevent 
people lifted out of poverty from relapsing into poverty and took robust action in 
response to natural disasters and Covid-19 to forestall any large-scale relapse into 
poverty.  
A total of 160 key counties were designated to receive assistance for rural 
revitalization and dedicated support was provided to them. We stepped up 
support for areas where residents relocated from inhospitable areas were resettled 
together in communities as well as for other key areas, and continued to 
implement and improve mechanisms for east-west cooperation, paired assistance, 
and targeted support.  
We also sent teams of medical and educational personnel as well as 
technicians to provide assistance to previously impoverished areas. All of these 
efforts enabled areas that were lifted out of poverty to accelerate development and 
keep raising the incomes of local residents. 
3. We deepened reform of key areas and crucial links to energize the market and 
stimulate social creativity. 
We continued reforms to develop the socialist market economy and struck a 
proper balance between the government and the market. This enabled the market 
to play a decisive role in resource allocation and the government to better play its 
role, thus promoting both an efficient market and a well-functioning government. 
Our drive to transform government functions continued.  
We completed institutional reform of both the State Council and local 
governments. We accelerated efforts to build a unified national market, developed 


14 
 
a high-standard market system, and worked to create a market-oriented and 
law-based business environment in keeping with international standards. 
Great truths are always simple, and simple government administration is 
always most effective. We made consistent efforts to promote reforms despite the 
fact that they affected the interests of government itself.  
We kept working to streamline government administration and delegate 
power. We broadened market access with full implementation of the negative list 
system. Since the introduction of this system, the negative list has been shortened 
by 64 percent, and the practice of list-based management has been applied to all 
items requiring government approval.  
Over the years, we have cancelled or delegated to lower-level authorities the 
power of administrative approval for over 1,000 items and slashed the number of 
investment items subject to central government approval by over 90 percent. The 
number of industrial production permit categories has been reduced from 60 to 10, 
and the approval time for construction projects has been cut to no more than 120 
working days. 
We carried out institutional reforms in the business sector and introduced the 
reform to separate out the business license from certificates required for starting a 
business. Today, the average time it takes to register a business is less than four 
working days, down from more than a month; and a simplified deregistration 
system is in place for MSMEs.  
While delegating power, we also improved regulation. We strengthened 
ongoing and ex post oversight. We saw to it that regulatory responsibilities were 
strictly fulfilled, that no regulatory vacuums were left, and that no power was 
delegated at the expense of regulation. We beefed up quality and safety 
supervision for food, drugs, and other key items, ensured impartial regulation by 
adopting practices such as the random selection of inspectors and inspection 
targets and the prompt release of results, and set standards for the exercise of 
discretionary administrative powers.  
We took stronger action against monopolies and unfair competition, fully 
implemented the system of fair competition review, and reformed the system for 
enforcing anti-monopoly laws.  
We conducted regulation and provided guidance in accordance with the law 
to promote the sound development of capital and took resolute, law-based moves 
to prevent the blind expansion of capital.  


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We continued to upgrade government services and worked to provide more 
one-stop services. Certification requirements were reduced, and the development 
of a digital government was accelerated. Now, more than 90 percent of 
government services can be accessed online; over 200 high-demand services, 
including household certification and the transfer of social security accounts, can 
be handled on an inter-provincial basis. All expressway toll booths on provincial 
borders have been removed.  
We formulated and implemented regulations on improving the business 
environment, on market entity registration and administration, on promoting 
development of individually owned businesses, and on ensuring payments to 
SMEs.  
These reforms have provided people seeking to go into business with greater 
convenience and scope. By the end of last year, there were over 52 million 
enterprises and more than 110 million self-employed individuals in China, and the 
total number of market entities had surpassed the 160-million mark, three times 
the figure a decade ago. As a result, the internal momentum for development has 
increased remarkably. 
We promoted the common development of enterprises under all forms of 
ownership.  
We upheld and improved China’s fundamental socialist economic systems 
and worked unswervingly both to consolidate and develop the public sector and to 
encourage, support, and guide development of the non-public sector.  
The tasks set out in the three-year action plan for SOE reform were completed 
and the modern corporate structure was improved, thus enabling SOEs to upgrade 
and restructure their operations so as to focus on their primary responsibilities and 
core business and enhance quality and performance.  
We promoted the sound development of private businesses by removing 
hidden barriers of various forms and ensuring all enterprises received policy 
support on an equal basis. This has boosted the confidence of private investors. We 
improved the system of property rights protection to safeguard entrepreneurs’ 
lawful rights and interests and promote the entrepreneurial spirit. 
We continued to reform the fiscal, taxation, and financial systems.  
We deepened reform of the budget management system and boosted budget 
transparency. We advanced reforms to divide fiscal powers and spending 
responsibilities between central and local governments, improved the system for 


16 
 
managing local government debt, and established an individual income tax system 
based on both adjusted gross income and specific income types.  
We promoted reform of the financial regulatory system and encouraged small 
and medium banks to replenish their capital and defuse risks through reform. We 
advanced reforms to implement a registration-based IPO system, refined the 
underlying systems of the capital market, and strengthened legislation for financial 
stability. 
 
4. We fully implemented the innovation-driven development strategy and 
improved and upgraded the industrial structure. 
 
We deepened supply-side structural reform, improved China’s innovation 
system, and boosted self-reliance and strength in science and technology. We 
promoted development of the real economy through innovation, continued to 
foster new drivers of growth, and effectively countered external attempts to 
suppress and contain China’s development. 
 
The leading role of technological innovation was reinforced.  
To increase China’s strength in strategic science and technology, we launched a 
number of major sci-tech innovation projects and stepped up efforts to secure 
breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields.  
We gave full play to the role of higher education institutions and research 
institutes and supported the development of new types of R&D institutions. 
Further strides were made in building international and regional centers for 
scientific and technological innovation and comprehensive national science centers. 
We provided support for basic research and applied basic research, with our 
country’s spending on basic research doubling over the past five years.  
The systems for research projects and funding management were reformed to 
grant greater autonomy to research institutions and researchers and relieve 
researchers of numerous administrative chores.  
Intellectual property rights protection was bolstered to encourage innovation. 
International science and technology exchanges and cooperation were promoted.  
We leveraged market-based mechanisms to encourage enterprise innovations. 
The additional tax deduction for R&D expenses was increased on several occasions, 
particularly for manufacturing enterprises and small and medium sci-tech 
enterprises, with coverage rising from 50 percent and 75 percent, respectively, to 
100 percent for both. This policy was extended to cover all eligible sectors on a 
temporary basis. All this provided policy support to enterprises for carrying out 


17 
 
basic research and purchasing equipment. In total, annual innovation tax breaks 
and incentives exceeded one trillion yuan.  
We also developed financial policy instruments to facilitate innovation and 
guided the development of venture capital. Thanks to these efforts, R&D spending 
by enterprises has maintained double-digit growth, and a large number of 
innovative enterprises have emerged. 
 
Industries were encouraged to develop toward the medium- and high-end. 
Priority was given to manufacturing in the development of the real economy, and 
the stable performance of the industrial sector was ensured. The share of 
manufacturing in the economy remained largely unchanged.  
Laws, regulations, and standards on environmental protection, quality, and 
safety were strictly implemented, and outdated production facilities were shut 
down. We worked to shore up weak links in the industrial and supply chains of 
key industries. A number of industrial foundation reengineering projects were 
launched.  
To accelerate the pace of equipment upgrading and technological 
transformation of enterprises, the preferential policy on accelerated depreciation of 
fixed assets was extended to cover the entire manufacturing sector.  
We sped up the development of emerging industries like high-end equipment, 
biomedicine, new-energy vehicles, photovoltaic power, and wind power. 
Continued efforts were made to provide faster broadband speeds and lower 
internet rates, and Internet Plus initiatives were boosted. The number of mobile 
internet subscriptions increased to 1.45 billion. We supported the development of 
the Industrial Internet and vigorously promoted digital and smart manufacturing. 
The number of SMEs producing new and unique products using special and 
sophisticated technologies exceeded 70,000. 
We promoted the sound and sustainable development of the platform 
economy and fully leveraged its role in boosting employment and business 
startups, expanding the consumer market, and creating new production modes. 
Producer services such as R&D and design, modern logistics, and inspection, 
testing, and certification registered further growth. Across-the-board quality 
management and national quality infrastructure were improved. Chinese products 
are now of a higher quality and more competitive.  
5. We expanded effective domestic demand and promoted coordinated regional 
development and new urbanization. 


18 
 
To create a new pattern of development, we fully leveraged China’s 
super-sized market and carried out the strategy of expanding domestic demand to 
foster more growth engines. 
We strived to expand consumption and effective investment.  
Before the outbreak of Covid-19, consumption had become the primary driver 
of China’s economic growth. In the face of insufficient and even shrinking demand, 
we acted to secure a swift recovery in consumption.  
We promoted personal income growth through various avenues and saw the 
earnings of middle- and low-income groups rise. Spending on automobiles, home 
appliances, and other big-ticket items was supported. The number of cars in use in 
China topped 300 million, an increase of 46.7 percent compared to five years ago.  
We vigorously promoted both online and offline consumption, raising the 
share of online sales for physical goods from 15.8 percent to 27.2 percent of total 
retail sales of consumer goods. Businesses serving residents’ daily needs flourished 
in urban communities, and the express delivery system in rural areas was 
improved. We also provided support for the tourism sector. 
We expanded effective investment to shore up weak links, promote structural 
adjustments, and sustain growth momentum. Innovations were made in 
investment and financing systems and mechanisms, and nongovernmental 
investment increased several times over under the guidance and drive of central 
government budgetary investment. We increased the scale of local government 
special-purpose bonds, with a high priority given to the development of sectors 
such as transportation, water conservancy, energy, information, and other 
infrastructure as well as projects for the people’s wellbeing. We also encouraged 
nongovernmental capital to participate in the construction and operation of such 
projects, and this stimulated investment from nongovernmental sources. 
We achieved more balanced and coordinated regional development. We took 
coordinated steps to promote large-scale development of the western region, the 
full revitalization of the Northeast, the rise of the central region, and trailblazing 
development in the eastern region. Overall, the central and western regions 
outpaced the eastern region in terms of economic growth rate. 
We stepped up support for old revolutionary base areas, areas with large 
ethnic minority populations, and border areas, with central government transfer 
payments to these areas rising by 66.8 percent over these five years. 
We promoted coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, 


19 
 
the development of the Yangtze Economic Belt, the integrated development of the 
Yangtze River Delta, and ecological conservation and high-quality development in 
the Yellow River basin. The Xiong’an New Area was built according to high 
standards and quality requirements.  
Development of the marine economy was promoted. We supported regions 
facing economic difficulty in pursuing development, promoted the economic 
transformation of resource-depleted areas, encouraged regions with favorable 
conditions to lead the way in development, and fostered more growth poles and 
growth belts. 
We continued to advance people-centered new urbanization. China is still in 
the process of urbanization, with ten million plus rural people moving to urban 
areas each year. We improved the functions of cities and particularly county seats 
to increase their overall carrying capacity.  
Restrictions on permanent urban residency were eased or removed on a 
category-by-category basis, and 140 million rural residents were granted 
permanent urban residency over the past decade. We promoted well-ordered 
development of city clusters and metropolitan areas and coordinated development 
of cities of different sizes. Development of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic zone 
was promoted.  
Adhering to the principle that housing is for living in and not for speculation, 
we established long-term mechanisms in the real estate market, expanded the 
supply of government-subsidized housing, and developed the long-term rental 
market. We kept land costs, house prices, and market expectations stable and 
adopted city-specific measures to facilitate sound development of the real estate 
sector. 
Urban infrastructure was improved. The length of in-service urban rail transit 
lines increased from just over 4,500 kilometers to close to 10,000 kilometers and the 
length of urban drainage pipelines rose from 630,000 kilometers to 890,000 
kilometers. A total of 167,000 old urban residential compounds were renovated, 
benefiting more than 29 million households. 
6. We ensured China’s food security and vigorously implemented the rural 
revitalization strategy. 
We improved policies to boost agriculture and benefit farmers, continuously 
gave priority to agricultural production, and moved faster to modernize the 
agricultural sector and rural areas. 


20 
 
We worked to enhance overall agricultural production capacity. We stabilized 
and increased grain acreage, expanded the production of soybeans and other 
oil-yielding crops, improved the composition and geographic distribution of 
agricultural production, and increased per unit crop yield and the quality of 
grains.  
We refined policies to support grain production, kept subsidies for grain 
growers stable, and set minimum purchase prices for rice and wheat at reasonable 
levels. Rewards for major grain-producing counties were increased and the 
policy-based agricultural insurance system was improved. 
We strengthened the protection of cropland, launched an initiative to protect 
chernozem soils, improved water conservancy infrastructure, and increased the 
area of high-standard cropland by 30.4 million hectares.  
We developed agricultural belts for ensuring national food security. We 
accelerated the pace of innovation in seed technology and agricultural machinery 
and application of new research advances. The rate of mechanization in crops 
plowing, planting, and harvesting increased from 67 percent to 73 percent.  
We ensured that both Party committees and governments assumed 
responsibility for ensuring food security and ensured stable production and supply 
of grain and other major agricultural products. With these efforts, we have fully 
secured the food supply of more than 1.4 billion people. 
Steady progress was made in rural reform and development. We consolidated 
and improved the basic rural operation system and completed the work to 
determine, register, and certify contracted rural land rights and the reform of the 
rural collective property rights system for the current stage. We steadily promoted 
appropriately scaled agribusiness operations of various types, ensured solid 
development of family farms and farmers’ cooperatives, and accelerated the 
development of commercial services for agriculture. 
We launched rural development initiatives and continued to improve the rural 
living environment. We strengthened rural infrastructure such as water, electricity 
and gas supplies, roads, and mail and communications services. All towns, 
townships, and villages where conditions permit are now connected by paved 
roads and linked to bus networks. Tap water coverage in rural areas increased 
from 80 percent to 87 percent, and the dilapidated houses of more than 24 million 
rural households were rebuilt over the years. 
We deepened the reform of supply and marketing cooperatives, collective 


21 
 
forest tenure, and state farms. We leveraged local resources to develop rural 
industries and helped rural residents secure employment, start businesses, and 
increase their incomes.  
To ensure that rural migrant workers were paid on time, we worked 
continuously to solve the problem of wage arrears owed to them, adopted 
regulations on ensuring their wage payment, and cracked down hard on cases of 
deliberately withholding wages. 
7. We remained committed to opening up wider to the world and expanded 
international economic and trade cooperation to deliver mutually beneficial outcomes. 
In response to changes in the external environment, we pursued a more 
proactive strategy of opening up and worked to boost reform and development 
with high-standard opening. 
Imports and exports were kept stable, and their quality was improved. We 
intensified policy support in terms of export tax rebates, credit insurance, and 
credit loans and cut the time for processing export tax rebates to less than six 
working days. Foreign exchange services were improved.  
We developed new forms of foreign trade, built 152 new integrated pilot zones 
for cross-border e-commerce, and supported the establishment of overseas 
warehouses. Major trade events such as the China International Import Expo, the 
China Import and Export Fair, the China International Fair for Trade in Services, 
and the China International Consumer Products Expo delivered positive results.  
We simplified customs clearance procedures and reduced the clearance time 
for imports and exports by 67 percent and 92 percent, respectively, bringing about 
a significant reduction in related compliance costs. The overall tariff level fell from 
9.8 percent to 7.4 percent over the five years.  
We advanced trials for innovative development of trade in services across the 
board and adopted the negative list for cross-border trade in services. With steady 
growth, imports and exports have bolstered China’s economic development. 
We took proactive and effective moves to utilize foreign investment. The 
regulations for implementing the Foreign Investment Law were issued, further 
improving the business environment for foreign investors. Market access for 
foreign investment was also steadily expanded. Items on the negative lists for 
foreign investment respectively covering the whole country and pilot free trade 
zones were reduced by 51 percent and 72 percent. The entire manufacturing sector 
was generally opened up, and opening in finance and other service sectors was 


22 
 
continuously enhanced.  
A total of 21 pilot free trade zones have been established in China, and steady 
strides have been made in the development of Hainan Free Trade Port. Across all 
localities, new approaches were developed to strengthen services for promoting 
foreign investment, and greater efforts were made to attract foreign investment 
and facilitate project implementation. With a large number of major foreign 
investment projects launched in our country over the past five years, China has 
remained a favored destination for overseas investment. 
We promoted high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. We remained 
committed to achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration, 
observed market principles and international rules, and carried out a number of 
projects to boost connectivity and industrial capacity cooperation. Imports and 
exports between China and other BRI countries increased at an annual rate of 13.4 
percent, and exchanges and cooperation between China and these countries 
registered steady progress in a wide range of areas.  
We provided guidance which ensured sound and orderly development of 
outbound investment, and we strengthened overseas risk prevention and control. 
Six free trade agreements were newly concluded or upgraded; and the share of 
trade with our free trade partners increased from 26 percent to around 35 percent 
of China’s total trade volume.  
We remained firm in upholding the multilateral trading regime and opposed 
trade protectionism. We properly handled economic and trade frictions and 
promoted trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. 
8. We strengthened environmental protection and pursued green and low-carbon 
development. 
Staying true to the idea that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable 
assets, we improved systems of ecological conservation, struck a balance between 
development and conservation, and steadily built up our capacity for promoting 
sustainable development. 
We strengthened pollution control and ecological conservation. Applying 
targeted, law-based, and science-driven approaches, we worked harder to prevent 
and control pollution. We made major efforts to control multiple pollutants in a 
coordinated way and across all regions. In cities at and above the prefectural level, 
air quality was good or excellent on 86.5% of the days over the past five years, a 
4-percentage-point increase.  


23 
 
Black malodorous water bodies in cities at and above the prefectural level were 
generally cleaned up. We intensified pollution prevention and control for major 
rivers, lakes, and offshore areas. We also strengthened efforts to prevent and 
control soil pollution risks and restore polluted soil, and stepped up the treatment 
of solid waste and new pollutants.  
We completed the tasks of drawing redlines to protect ecosystems, farmland, 
and permanent basic cropland and of delineating urban development boundaries. 
We promoted the conservation and improvement of mountains, waters, forests, 
farmlands, grasslands, and deserts in a holistic and systematic way. We launched 
major ecological projects and instituted systems of river, lake, and forest chiefs 
nationwide. The 10-year ban on fishing in key water bodies of the Yangtze River 
basin was fully enforced. Biodiversity protection was bolstered, and the system of 
compensation for ecological conservation was improved. 
Forest coverage has risen to over 24 percent, and over 50 percent of all 
wetlands are now under protection. The area of land affected by soil erosion, 
desertification, and sandification was reduced by 106,000 square kilometers, 38,000 
square kilometers, and 33,000 square kilometers, respectively. More and more, our 
people now enjoy blue skies, clear waters, and lush mountains. 
We made steady progress in energy conservation and carbon reduction. We 
both ensured a stable and secure energy supply and promoted green and 
low-carbon development. We worked toward the targets of peak carbon emissions 
and carbon neutrality with well-conceived and systematic steps.  
The energy mix was further improved. Coal-fired generators with a total 
capacity of over 1.05 billion kilowatts achieved ultra-low emissions. Installed 
capacity of renewable power increased from 650 million kilowatts to more than 1.2 
billion kilowatts. The share of clean energy in total energy consumption increased 
from 20.8 percent to over 25 percent.  
We made an all-embracing push to promote resource conservation, developed 
green sectors and a circular economy, and encouraged R&D and application of 
energy-saving and environmental protection technologies and products. Financial 
support for green development was scaled up. Improvements were made to 
performance evaluations for energy consumption targets.  
Internationally, China played an active part in cooperation on addressing 
climate change, contributing its part to global climate governance. 
9. We took concrete steps to ensure and improve the people’s wellbeing and 


24 
 
accelerated the development of social programs.  
Acting on a people-centered philosophy of development, we continued to 
increase inputs in areas important to people’s wellbeing, meet people’s basic needs, 
provide a cushion for those most in need, and promote social fairness. We 
delivered higher-quality public services and continued to improve the wellbeing of 
our people through development. 
We developed more equitable and higher-quality education. Education is 
pivotal to the enduring prosperity of a country. We kept annual budgetary 
spending on education at over 4 percent of GDP and realized a significant increase 
in spending per student.  
We steadily intensified efforts to shore up weak links in rural compulsory 
education, largely resolved the problem of oversized classes in urban schools, and 
made strides in providing schooling for children of rural migrant workers in cities. 
The retention rate in nine-year compulsory education rose from 93.8 percent to 95.5 
percent.  
We saw to it that compulsory education was provided as an overall state 
responsibility; and we guided and regulated the development of private schools. 
The burden on students in compulsory education was reduced. The nutrition 
improvement program was continued, benefiting over 37 million students every 
year. We ensured that teachers, especially those in rural schools, received their pay 
packages in full.  
The provision of preschool education was increased through multiple channels. 
The goal of universal senior secondary education was attained. Vocational 
education was made more adaptable, and conditions in vocational schools were 
steadily improved.  
We took active yet prudent steps to advance comprehensive reform of the 
college entrance examination system and raised the gross enrollment ratio for 
higher education from 45.7 percent to 59.6 percent. Universities and colleges 
continued to enroll more students from central and western regions and rural areas. 
The cap was significantly raised for government-subsidized loans to college 
students from families with financial difficulties.  
We launched a plan that enables institutions of higher learning to recruit 
students who excel in basic academic disciplines, as well as a plan to cultivate top 
talent in basic disciplines. We opened 288 training centers for high-performing 
students in basic disciplines and continued to develop world-class universities and 


25 
 
world-class disciplines. By doing so, we have laid a solid foundation for talent 
development. 
Our ability to provide medical and health services was enhanced. We pressed 
ahead with the Healthy China initiative and deepened the reform of medical and 
healthcare systems. We made basic medical and healthcare services available to the 
entire population as a public good and made it easier and more affordable for 
people to access medical treatment.  
Benefits under the basic medical insurance and serious disease insurance 
schemes continued to grow, and annual per capita government subsidies for basic 
medical insurance for rural and non-working urban residents increased from 450 
yuan to 610 yuan. A greater number of urgently needed medicines were approved 
for reimbursement under the basic medical insurance scheme. On-the-spot 
settlement of cross-provincial outpatient and inpatient medical bills was realized, 
with over 57 million applications for settlement approved. We made bulk 
government purchases of medicines and medical consumables, thus cutting 
medical bills by more than 400 billion yuan. Thirteen national medical research 
centers and 76 regional medical centers were opened.  
Comprehensive reform of public hospitals was carried out across the board, 
the capacity for providing medical and health services at the county level was 
steadily increased, and the tiered diagnosis and treatment system was refined.  
The preservation and innovative development of traditional Chinese medicine 
was promoted. Annual per capita government subsidies for basic public health 
services were increased from 50 yuan to 84 yuan. We reformed and improved the 
system for disease prevention and control. The National Administration of Disease 
Prevention and Control was inaugurated, and the systems for major epidemic 
prevention, control, and treatment and for providing emergency supplies were 
improved. With these efforts, we have protected the health of our people. 
We improved social security and social services. A central regulation system 
for basic old-age insurance funds was set up. We increased basic pension benefits 
for retirees for several years running and raised the minimum basic old-age 
benefits for rural and non-working urban residents. Urban and rural subsistence 
allowances, benefits for entitled groups, unemployment insurance, and workers’ 
compensation were steadily increased.  
We took proactive steps to address population aging and promoted 
development of both elderly care programs and elderly care services. We 


26 
 
encouraged the development of community and at-home elderly care services by 
offering policy support in terms of tax, rent, and charges for water, electricity, and 
natural gas. Integrated medical and elderly care services were promoted. The 
three-child policy was launched, and supporting measures were put into effect.  
We refined the system of management and support for ex-service members 
and provided them with better services and benefits. The rights and interests of 
women and children were better protected. The system for supporting and caring 
for people with disabilities was improved.  
We also improved the social assistance system, strengthened ongoing 
monitoring for low-income groups, and provided people in difficulty with prompt 
assistance. Temporary assistance was provided 11 million times on average each 
year. With these efforts, we have firmly secured the safety net for meeting the basic 
needs of people in difficulty. 
People’s intellectual and cultural lives were enriched. Core socialist values 
were fostered and observed. Public initiatives were launched to promote cultural 
and ethical advancement. The press and publishing, radio, film, and television, 
literature and art, philosophy and social sciences, and archiving as well as other 
undertakings were developed. Think tanks were strengthened.  
Solid steps were taken to promote in-depth integrated development of media. 
Communication with international audiences was improved. New ways were 
created to enhance online content development. Fine traditional Chinese culture 
was kept alive and thrived, and China’s cultural artifacts and cultural heritage 
were better protected and preserved. Cultural projects were launched to benefit the 
public, and public libraries, museums, art galleries, and cultural centers were 
opened to the public free of charge.  
We continued to foster a love of reading among our people, supported the 
development of the cultural sector, and promoted scientific literacy. Chinese 
athletes excelled in competition; extensive Fitness-for-All activities were carried 
out. 
 
10．We continued to perform government functions in accordance with the law 
and develop new ways of conducting governance and ensured social stability. 
 
We stepped up efforts to develop a law-based government and ensured 
economic and social activities were carried out in compliance with the law. We 
exercised law-based government administration, served the common good of all, 
and saw that the law was enforced in a strict, procedure-based, impartial, and 


27 
 
non-abusive way. The power of the government comes from the people; it should 
not be wielded as one pleases and the exercise of power must be subject to 
supervision.  
We worked to improve laws, regulations and rules, submitted 50 legislative 
proposals to the Standing Committee of the NPC for deliberation, and formulated 
or revised 180 sets of administrative regulations.  
We in governments at all levels, in compliance with the law, subjected 
ourselves to the oversight of people’s congresses and their standing committees at 
the corresponding level and readily submitted to the democratic oversight of the 
CPPCC, public oversight, and oversight through public opinion. We handled with 
careful attention recommendations from NPC deputies and proposals by CPPCC 
National Committee members. We also strengthened oversight based on audits 
and statistics.  
We continued to make government affairs more transparent. Accountability 
inspections were carried out by the State Council. We supported trade unions, 
Communist Youth League organizations, women’s federations, and other people’s 
organizations in better playing their roles.  
 
We developed new and better forms of social governance. We advanced the 
modernization of urban social governance, improved primary-level governance, 
and provided better community services. We supported the sound development of 
social organizations, humanitarian assistance, social work, volunteer services, 
public welfare, charitable initiatives, and other related services.  
We made headway in clearing the backlog of public complaint cases. We 
advanced the development of the social credit system, improved the public legal 
service system, and tightened supervision over food, drugs, and vaccines.  
An initiative to enhance workplace safety was launched. We reformed and 
strengthened emergency management, enhanced our capacity for disaster 
prevention, mitigation, and relief, effectively protected against floods, droughts, 
forest and grassland fires, geological disasters, and earthquakes, and provided 
quality meteorological services.  
We made further progress in building up the national security system and 
capabilities. We continued to take a full range of measures to maintain law and 
order, cracked down hard on illegal and criminal activities of all types, and 
launched campaigns to combat organized crime and handed out severe 
punishments, in accordance with the law, to criminal gangs and those who 


28 
 
provided protection for them, thus making fresh headway in building a peaceful 
China and advancing the rule of law in China. 
 
Fellow Deputies, 
 
Over the past five years, we in governments at all levels faithfully 
implemented the Party Central Committee’s strategic plans for full and rigorous 
Party self-governance, launched both initiatives to raise awareness of the need to 
stay true to the Party’s founding mission and programs to study the Party’s history, 
and carried forward the great founding spirit of the Party.  
We strictly complied with the central Party leadership’s eight-point decision on 
improving work conduct and kept up our efforts to tackle pointless formalities, 
bureaucratism, hedonism, and extravagance, with emphasis on the first two. 
Spending on official overseas visits, vehicles for official use, and official hospitality 
was slashed.  
We resolutely investigated and strictly dealt with instances of constructing 
government buildings in breach of regulations and cases of tax evasion. Greater 
efforts were made to build a government of integrity. All of us in government have 
readily placed ourselves under the oversight of the law, supervisory bodies, and 
the people. 
 
There is no shortcut to achieving economic and social development; only solid 
work will deliver it. Over these five years, we followed the guidance of Xi Jinping 
Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and fully 
implemented the Party’s basic theory, basic line, and basic policy. Taking economic 
development as our central task, we strived to pursue high-quality development, 
tackled challenges and difficulties head-on, fulfilled our commitments with solid 
work, and made concerted efforts to promote development.  
We took meeting the people’s expectations as the goal of our governance, 
always kept the people uppermost in our minds, and put their interests above all 
else. We fully heeded their views, endeavored to gain a full understanding of their 
needs, and spared no effort to solve the pressing difficulties and problems that 
concerned them most.  
We adhered to the principle of seeking truth from facts, with full respect for 
objective laws, and resolutely opposed empty talk and boastfulness, window 
dressing, vanity projects, and rash and reckless moves.  
By carrying out reform and making unremitting efforts, we resolved problems 


29 
 
and fostered vitality. We applauded those who lived up to their responsibilities 
and held to full account those who were incompetent and indolent. We respected 
the pioneering spirit of the people and kept all motivated, thus creating a powerful 
force for advancing development.  
 
Fellow Deputies, 
Over the past five years, we created new ways to improve work related to 
ethnic groups, religious affairs, and overseas Chinese. We consolidated and 
developed socialist ethnic relations featuring equality, unity, mutual assistance, 
and harmony, with fresh headway achieved in ethnic solidarity and progress. We 
implemented the Party’s basic policy on religious affairs and saw that religions in 
China further adapted to the Chinese context. We continued to improve our work 
on overseas Chinese affairs, thus giving full play to the unique strengths and 
important role of overseas Chinese nationals in China’s modernization drive. 
We remained committed to the Party’s absolute leadership over the people’s 
armed forces. A series of major achievements were made in national defense and 
military development. As a result, a number of significant changes took place in 
this domain.  
The people’s armed forces intensified efforts to enhance their political loyalty, 
to strengthen themselves through reform, scientific and technological advances, 
and personnel training, and to practice law-based governance. They stepped up 
military training, increased combat preparedness, and became a much more 
modernized and capable fighting force.  
They carried out operations in a firm and flexible way; and they effectively 
conducted major missions relating to border defense, maritime rights protection, 
counterterrorism and stability maintenance, disaster rescue and relief, Covid-19 
response, peacekeeping, and merchant ship escorting. Our national defense 
mobilization capability was boosted. With these efforts, we fully safeguarded 
China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests. 
 
We made fresh progress in work related to Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. 
We exercised effective overall jurisdiction over the two special administrative 
regions of Hong Kong and Macao in accordance with China’s Constitution and the 
basic laws of the two regions, formulated and put into effect the Law of the 
People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong 
Special Administrative Region, and applied the principle that Hong Kong and 


30 
 
Macao should be administered by patriots. We have ensured that Hong Kong has 
entered a new stage in which it has restored order and is set to thrive.  
We promoted the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater 
Bay Area and supported Hong Kong and Macao in developing their economies, 
improving living standards, responding to Covid-19, and maintaining stability.  
We implemented the Party’s overall policy for the new era on resolving the 
Taiwan question and resolutely fought against separatism and countered 
interference. We continued efforts to promote the peaceful development of 
cross-Strait relations.  
 
We conducted major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics on all 
fronts. President Xi Jinping and other Party and state leaders visited many 
countries and attended, online or offline, many major diplomatic events, including 
G20 
summits, 
APEC 
economic 
leaders’ 
meetings, 
high-level 
meetings 
commemorating the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, the East Asia leaders’ 
meetings on cooperation, and China-EU summits.  
China also hosted a number of major diplomatic events, including the Qingdao 
Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the 14th BRICS Summit, the 
High-Level Dialogue on Global Development, the first and second Belt and Road 
forums for international cooperation, and the Beijing Summit of the Forum on 
China-Africa Cooperation.  
With courage and ability to stand our ground, we resolutely safeguarded 
China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests. We actively expanded 
global partnerships, worked to build an open world economy, safeguarded 
multilateralism, and promoted the building of a human community with a shared 
future.  
As a responsible major country, China played significant and constructive 
roles in enhancing international Covid-19 cooperation and addressing global 
challenges and regional hotspot issues, thus making important contributions to 
global peace and development. 
 
Fellow Deputies, 
 
We owe our achievements in these five years to the strong leadership of the 
Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the sound guidance 
of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, 
and the concerted efforts of the whole Party, the armed forces, and Chinese people 


31 
 
of all ethnic groups.  
On behalf of the State Council, I would like to express sincere gratitude to all 
our people, and to all other political parties, people’s organizations, and public 
figures from all sectors of society. I express heartfelt appreciation to our fellow 
countrymen and women in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative 
regions, in Taiwan, and overseas. I would also like to express heartfelt thanks to 
the governments of other countries, international organizations, and friends across 
the world who have shown understanding and support for us in China as we 
pursue modernization. 
 
While recognizing our achievements, we are keenly aware that China is still a 
large, developing country. It remains in the primary stage of socialism with 
prominent imbalances and inadequacies in its development. Today, many 
difficulties and challenges still confront us.  
Uncertainties in the external environment are on the rise. Global inflation 
remains high, global economic and trade growth is losing steam, and external 
attempts to suppress and contain China are escalating.  
At home, the foundation for stable growth needs to be consolidated, 
insufficient demand remains a pronounced problem, and the expectations of 
private investors and businesses are unstable. MSMEs and self-employed 
individuals face multiple difficulties in business and production operations. The 
task of maintaining employment stability is challenging, and the budgetary 
imbalances of some local governments are substantial. There are many risks and 
hidden dangers in the real estate market. The operating risks of some small and 
medium financial institutions have been exposed.  
 
 There are still many institutional barriers hindering development. Our 
capacity for scientific and technological innovation needs to be further improved. 
We still have a long way to go in protecting the environment. There are still major 
weak links in urban and rural infrastructure for disaster prevention and mitigation 
and other purposes. Weak links also persist in areas important to the people’s 
lives.  
Pointless formalities and bureaucratism remain acute issues. Some local 
governments have used one-size-fits-all approaches or taken excessive measures 
when implementing policies. Some officials fail to fulfill their duties, act arbitrarily, 
or have a narrow focus in work. Some are detached from reality, go against the 
public will, or disregard the legitimate rights and interests of the people. 


32 
 
Corruption remains a common problem in some fields, sectors, and localities. 
Regarding government work, the people have expressed some views and 
suggestions which deserve our full attention.  
We must face these problems and challenges squarely, make every effort to 
make improvements, and do all we can to live up to the people’s trust. 
 
II. Recommendations for the Work of Government in 2023 
 
 
This year is the first year for fully implementing the guiding principles from 
the Party’s 20th National Congress. For the government to deliver, it is important, 
under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi 
Jinping at its core, to do the following:  
 
follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese 
Characteristics for a New Era; 
 
implement the guiding principles from the Party’s 20th National Congress;  
 
act on the guidelines of the Central Economic Work Conference; 
 
make solid progress in advancing Chinese modernization; 
 
act on the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability; 
 
fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy on all fronts 
and move faster to create a new pattern of development; 
 
promote high-quality development;  
 
give full consideration to both domestic and international imperatives;  
 
respond to Covid-19 and pursue economic and social development in a 
more coordinated way; 
 
better ensure development and security;  
 
deepen reform and opening up in all respects; 
 
boost market confidence; 
 
pursue the strategy of expanding domestic demand and deepen 
supply-side structural reform; 
 
give priority to ensuring stable growth, employment, and prices; 
 
effectively prevent and defuse major risks; 
 
promote a full economic recovery; 
 
effectively pursue higher-quality growth and appropriately increase 
economic output; 
 
keep working to improve people’s lives; and  


33 
 
 
maintain overall social stability. 
These efforts will set the stage for building a modern socialist country in all 
respects. 
 
The main projected targets for development this year are as follows:  
 
GDP growth of around 5 percent; 
 
around 12 million new urban jobs; 
 
surveyed urban unemployment rate of around 5.5 percent; 
 
CPI increase of around 3 percent; 
 
growth in personal income that is generally in step with economic growth; 
 
steady increases in both the volume and quality of imports and exports; 
 
a basic equilibrium in the balance of payments; 
 
grain output of over 650 million metric tons; 
 
continued reductions in energy consumption per unit of GDP and in the 
discharge of major pollutants, with priority on controlling fossil fuel 
consumption; and  
 
steady improvements in the quality of the eco-environment. 
This year, it is essential to prioritize economic stability and pursue progress 
while ensuring stability. Policies should be kept consistent and targeted, and they 
should be carried out in more coordinated way to create synergy for high-quality 
development.  
We should enhance the intensity and effectiveness of our proactive fiscal policy. 
A deficit-to-GDP ratio of 3 percent has been projected for this year. We should 
improve preferential tax and fee policies, and extend and further refine policies on 
tax and fee cuts, tax rebates, and tax deferrals as the situation requires. We should 
see that at the primary level, basic living needs are met, salary payments are 
ensured, and normal government functioning is maintained.  
We should do more to implement a prudent monetary policy in a targeted way. 
The M2 money supply and aggregate financing should increase generally in step 
with nominal economic growth to provide support for the real economy. The RMB 
exchange rate should be kept generally stable at an adaptive, balanced level.  
In adopting industrial policies, we should give consideration to both 
development and security imperatives. We should promote the transformation and 
upgrading of traditional industries, cultivate and strengthen strategic emerging 
industries, and take forceful steps to shore up weak links in industrial chains.  
Scientific and technological policies should aim at building up our country’s 


34 
 
strength and self-reliance in science and technology. The new system for 
mobilizing resources nationwide should be improved, we should better leverage 
the role of the government in pooling resources to make key technological 
breakthroughs, and enterprises should be the principal actors in innovation.  
Social policies should meet basic living needs. To effectively ensure people’s 
basic wellbeing, we should take concrete measures to fully implement the 
employment-first policy and place a higher priority on promoting the employment 
of young people, particularly college graduates. 
China has entered a phase of regular Covid-19 response, in which prevention 
and control measures for Class B infectious diseases are applied. We must ensure 
our response is well-conceived, more targeted, and more effective. We should 
protect people’s health and prevent severe cases, with an emphasis on prevention 
and treatment for the elderly, children, and people with underlying medical 
conditions. Covid-19 vaccines should be upgraded and new drugs should be 
developed. We should ensure people’s access to medicines and medical services to 
protect their lives and health. 
This year, a new central government leadership will be elected. Going forward, 
the work outlined in the previous section of this report relating to economic and 
social development must be pushed forward with relentless efforts. I would now 
like to brief you on several key priorities. 
1. Expanding domestic demand 
We should give priority to the recovery and expansion of consumption. The 
incomes of urban and rural residents should be boosted through multiple channels. 
We should stabilize spending on big-ticket items and promote recovery in 
consumption of consumer services. We should see that government investment 
and policy incentives effectively drive investment society-wide. 
It is proposed that 3.8 trillion yuan be allocated for special-purpose bonds for 
local governments this year. Implementation of major projects set out in the 14th 
Five-Year Plan will be sped up. Urban renewal projects should also be launched. 
We should promote complementary development between regions and see that 
each region fully leverages its strengths. We should encourage and attract more 
private capital into major state projects and projects aimed at addressing areas of 
weakness in order to stimulate private investment. 
2. Accelerating the modernization of the industrial system 
We should, with a focus on key industrial chains in the manufacturing sector, 


35 
 
pool quality resources and make concerted efforts to achieve breakthroughs in core 
technologies in key fields.  
We should redouble efforts to explore and develop important energy and 
mineral resources, discover more reserves, and boost production. We should speed 
up the digitalization of traditional industries and SMEs to make them higher-end, 
smarter, and more eco-friendly. R&D and application of cutting-edge technologies 
should be accelerated. We should improve the modern logistics system. We should 
strive to develop the digital economy, step up regular oversight, and support the 
development of the platform economy. 
3. Unswervingly consolidating and developing the public sector and unswervingly 
encouraging, supporting, and guiding the development of the non-public sector 
We should deepen reform of state-owned capital and SOEs and enhance the 
core competitiveness of SOEs. We should continue with a category-based approach 
to reform and see that SOEs fulfill both their economic and social responsibilities 
and that they improve their modern corporate governance with distinctive Chinese 
features.  
We should, in accordance with the law, protect the property rights of private 
enterprises and the rights and interests of entrepreneurs. We should encourage 
and support the private sector and private businesses in growing and expanding 
and support MSMEs and self-employed individuals in business development.  
We should cultivate a cordial and clean relationship between government and 
business and create an environment in which enterprises under all forms of 
ownership can compete and grow on a level playing field. Effective measures and 
policies should be rolled out to boost market expectations and confidence. 
4. Intensifying efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment 
We should expand market access and continue to open up the modern services 
sector. We should ensure national treatment for foreign-funded companies.  
We should take active steps to see China join the Comprehensive and 
Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and accede to other 
high-standard economic and trade agreements, and steadily expand institutional 
opening up by proactively adopting relevant rules, regulations, management, and 
standards. We should continue to leverage the role of imports and exports in 
driving economic growth. We should improve services for foreign-funded 
companies and facilitate the launch of landmark foreign-funded projects.  
With a vast and open market, China is sure to provide even greater business 


36 
 
opportunities for foreign companies in China.  
5. Effectively preventing and defusing major economic and financial risks 
We need to deepen reform of the financial system, improve financial regulation, 
and see that all those involved assume their full responsibilities to guard against 
regional and systemic financial risks. We should ensure effective risk prevention 
and mitigation in high-quality, leading real estate enterprises, help them improve 
debt-to-asset ratios, and prevent unregulated expansion in the real estate market to 
promote stable development of the real estate sector.  
To prevent and defuse local government debt risks, we should improve the 
mix of debt maturities, reduce the burden of interest payments, and prevent a 
build-up of new debts while working to reduce existing ones. 
6. Stabilizing grain output and advancing rural revitalization 
We should keep total grain acreage at a stable level, promote the production of 
oilseed crops, and launch a new drive to increase grain production capacity by 50 
million metric tons. We should improve contingency plans for ensuring the 
provision of agricultural supplies at stable prices. We should ramp up the 
development of high-standard cropland, facilities for irrigation and water 
conservancy, and other agricultural infrastructure. We should invigorate the seed 
industry and support the development of agricultural science, technology, and 
equipment.  
Rural industries with local features should be fostered to create more channels 
for increasing rural incomes. Our achievements in poverty alleviation should be 
consolidated and expanded to prevent large-scale relapse into poverty. Rural 
development initiatives should be advanced. We must meticulously and effectively 
carry out work related to the extension of rural land contracts for an additional 30 
years. 
7. Continuing the transition to green development 
Pollution prevention and control should be intensified. We should improve 
urban-rural environmental infrastructure and continue to implement major 
projects for protecting and restoring key ecosystems. We should promote R&D for 
the clean and efficient use of coal and move faster to develop a new energy system.  
We should improve policies for green development, develop the circular 
economy, promote efficient and intensive use of resources, advance energy 
conservation and carbon reduction in key areas, and continue working to keep our 
skies blue, waters clear, and lands clean. 


37 
 
8. Meeting people’s basic living needs and developing social programs 
We should improve the housing support system, support people in buying 
their first homes or improving their housing situation, and help resolve the 
housing problems of new urban residents and young people.  
We should promote high-quality, balanced development and urban-rural 
integration of compulsory education, intensify efforts to develop vocational 
education, and continue to explore new ground in higher education. We should 
see that more quality medical resources are channeled toward the community level 
and more evenly distributed among regions.  
We need to improve elderly care services and refine supporting policies on 
childbirth. We should protect the legitimate rights and interests of women, 
children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. We should see that service 
members and their families, ex-service members, and other entitled groups receive 
the benefits and subsidies they are entitled to.  
We should develop cultural programs and the cultural sector. We should work 
to make social governance more effective. Workplace safety supervision should be 
strengthened, and disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief efforts should be 
bolstered.  
We should fully apply a holistic approach to national security and advance the 
Peaceful China Initiative to a higher level.  
 
Fellow Deputies, 
 
We should, with a focus on forging a strong sense of community for the 
Chinese nation, uphold and improve the system of regional ethnic autonomy and 
encourage all our ethnic groups to strive in unity for common prosperity and 
development.  
We should adhere to the Party’s basic policy on religious affairs, follow the 
principle that religions in China must be Chinese in orientation, and provide active 
guidance to religions so that they can adapt themselves to socialist society.  
We should strengthen and improve our work related to Chinese nationals 
overseas to forge a powerful force for all the sons and daughters of the Chinese 
nation, both at home and abroad, to work together to make remarkable 
achievements. 
We should fully implement Xi Jinping’s thinking on strengthening the military 
and the military strategy for the new era. Our armed forces, with a focus on the 


38 
 
goals for the centenary of the People’s Liberation Army in 2027, should work to 
carry out military operations, boost combat preparedness, and enhance military 
capabilities so as to accomplish the tasks entrusted to them by the Party and the 
people.  
The armed forces should intensify military training and preparedness across 
the board, develop new military strategic guidance, devote greater energy to 
training under combat conditions, and make well-coordinated efforts to strengthen 
military work in all directions and domains.  
We should improve all-around military governance and build on and expand 
the gains of national defense and military reform. We should see that military 
operations, capacity building, and combat preparedness are well-coordinated in 
fulfilling major tasks and speed up the implementation of major defense-related 
projects.  
We should consolidate and enhance integration of national strategies and 
strategic capabilities and step up capacity building in science, technology, and 
industries related to national defense.  
We in governments at all levels should give strong support to the development 
of national defense and the armed forces and conduct extensive activities to 
promote mutual support between civilian sectors and the military. In doing so, we 
will open a new chapter of unity between the military and the government and 
between the military and the people. 
We should fully, faithfully, and resolutely implement the policy of One 
Country, Two Systems, under which the people of Hong Kong administer Hong 
Kong and the people of Macao administer Macao, both with a high degree of 
autonomy.  
We should remain committed to law-based governance in Hong Kong and 
Macao and ensure that constitutional order in the two regions is upheld as 
stipulated in China’s Constitution and the basic laws of the two regions, and that 
Hong Kong and Macao are administered by patriots.  
We should support Hong Kong and Macao in growing their economies and 
improving the lives of their people and maintain long-term prosperity and stability 
in the two regions. 
We should implement our Party’s overall policy for the new era on resolving 
the Taiwan question, adhere to the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, 
and take resolute steps to oppose “Taiwan independence” and promote 


39 
 
reunification. We should promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait 
relations and advance the process of China’s peaceful reunification.  
As we Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family bound by 
blood, we should advance economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation 
across the Taiwan Strait and improve the systems and policies that contribute to 
the wellbeing of our Taiwan compatriots. We should encourage people on both 
sides of the Strait to jointly promote Chinese culture and advance China’s 
rejuvenation. 
We should stay committed to an independent foreign policy of peace and to 
peaceful development and pursue friendship and cooperation with other countries 
on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.  
We should remain firm in pursuing a strategy of opening up for mutual benefit. 
We should continue working to safeguard world peace, contribute to global 
development, and uphold the international order.  
China stands ready to work with the international community to put into 
action the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative and 
promote the shared values of humanity.  
Let us join hands to promote the building of a human community with a 
shared future and safeguard world peace and regional stability. 
 
Fellow Deputies, 
 
Great achievements can only come from hard work; a bright future can only be 
secured through solid efforts.  
Let us rally more closely around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi 
Jinping at its core, hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese 
characteristics, follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with 
Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and fully implement the guiding principles 
from the Party’s 20th National Congress.  
Let us forge ahead with perseverance and resolve, promote sound and 
sustainable economic and social development, and keep working to build a 
modern socialist country in all respects. 
Let us strive to advance national rejuvenation on all fronts and build China 
into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, 
culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful.