KEY PRIORITIES FOR 2013

In his last delivery of a government work report as China’s premier， Wen Jiabao made suggestions to the succeeding government at the country’s annual legislative session on March 5， based on an understanding of the work of the past 10 years， especially of the past five years. Edited excerpts follow.

Change of the Growth Model

The difficulty in—and key to expanding—domestic demand lie in consumption， and that is also where the potential lies. To expand individual consumption， we should enhance people’s ability to consume， keep their consumption expectations stable， boost their desire to consume， improve the consumption environment and make economic growth more consumption-driven.

In the current stage， the role investment plays in promoting economic growth cannot be underestimated. China has both investment capability and investment demand， but the key is to make investment in the needed sectors， optimize the structure of investment， and improve its performance and returns. Government investment is important in guiding non-government investment， but its share of the country’s total investment is decreasing， so we must further relax controls over market access for non-government investment and stimulate it.

We must accelerate the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries， energetically develop new- and high-tech industries， and raise product quality and competitiveness.

We should promote sound development of strategic emerging industries， with the focus on expanding their share in the domestic market and making breakthroughs in major and key technologies.

We should develop and expand the service sector， and attach equal importance to producer and consumer service industries and to modern and traditional service industries.

We should adhere to the basic state policy of conserving resources and protecting the environment and endeavor to promote green， circular and low-carbon development.

We should greatly boost the conservation and reuse of energy and resources， give priority to saving energy in industry， transportation and construction and in public institutions， restrict total energy consumption， and reduce energy and materials consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. We should speed up adjusting the economic structure and distribution and upgrading related standards， practices， and laws and regulations. We should adopt effective measures to prevent and control pollution and change the way we work and live. We should resolve to solve the problems of serious air， water， and soil pollution that affect the people’s vital interests； improve environmental quality， and safeguard people’s health， and give the people hope through our concrete action.

We should strengthen comprehensive marine management， develop the marine economy， become better able to exploit marine resources， protect the marine ecological environment， and safeguard China’s maritime rights and interests.

We should continue to fully implement the master strategy for regional development and promote balanced development between regions.

Deepening Reform and Opening up

We should unwaveringly consolidate and develop the public sector of the economy and encourage， and support and guide the development of the non-public sector， so as to foster a structural environment in which economic entities under different forms of ownership have equal access to factors of production in accordance with the law， compete on a level playing field and enjoy equal legal protection.

We should ensure that the people occupy the principal position， make people’s democracy more extensive， fuller in scope and sounder， ensure that the people enjoy extensive rights and freedoms prescribed by law， and promote people’s well-rounded development. We should govern the country on the basis of the law， and fully respect the authority of the Constitution and laws. We should ensure that the powers of policy making， implementation and oversight both constrain each other and function in concert and that government bodies exercise their powers in accordance with statutory mandates and procedures. We should continue to transform government functions， separate government administration from the management of enterprises， state assets， public institutions and social organizations， and build a well-structured， clean， efficient and service-oriented government that has scientifically defined functions and that the people are satisfied with.

We should adhere to the basic state policy of opening up and implement a more proactive opening-up strategy.

Promoting Integrated Urban And Rural Development

Agriculture and rural development in China have now entered a new stage in which overall agricultural production costs are rising， structural problems in the supply and demand of agricultural products are worsening， the rural social structure is undergoing profound changes， and the integration of urban and rural development is speeding up. All the major and difficult problems that we face in completion of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects are in rural areas. The rural land system is central to maintaining rural stability and ensuring China’s long-term development. Its main purpose is to guarantee farmers’ property rights and interests， and its main objective is to ensure that China’s farmland remains at or above the red line of 120 million hectares. We should continue to make household contracts the basis of rural operations， support the development of new farmers’ cooperatives of various forms and multi-level commercial organizations that provide agricultural services， and gradually establish a new type of system of intensive agricultural operations that are specialized， well organized and commercialized. We should always protect farmers’ legitimate property rights and keep them motivated.

Urbanization is a historical task in China’s modernization drive， and urbanization and agricultural modernization complement each other. Megacities and large cities should be kept at an appropriate scale and fully play their role in driving the development of their surrounding areas. Small and medium-sized cities and small towns should become better able to develop industries， provide public services， create jobs， and attract residents. We should accelerate reform of the household registration system， the social management system and related institutions； register eligible rural workers as permanent urban residents in an orderly manner； progressively expand the coverage of basic public services in urban areas to all their permanent residents； and create an equitable institutional environment for freedom of movement and for people to live and work in contentment. In improving village conditions， we should preserve their distinctive rural flavor， make their environment more livable， and ensure that urbanization and the building of a new countryside reinforce each other.

Improving People’s Well-being

We should do all we can to increase employment， and persevere in implementing the strategy of giving top priority to employment and adopt a more proactive employment policy. We should create more jobs by maintaining stable economic growth and adjusting the economic structure and provide better vocational skills training to help people to find jobs or start their own business. We should increase government spending and policy support， improve the employment services system， stimulate employment by encouraging business startups， assist target groups in finding jobs， and stimulate sustained， steady increases in urban and rural incomes.

We should improve the social security system， and continue to follow the policy of making coverage universal， ensuring basic care， and providing multi-level and sustainable social security. We should expand the coverage of social security， turn over the overall management of social security accounts to higher-level authorities， raise social security benefits， improve and coordinate all social security programs， make social security more equitable and sustainable， and facilitate the smooth transfer of social security accounts between localities.

We should advance reform and development of medical and health care services， consolidate and improve the system for using basic drugs and the new operating mechanisms of community-level medical and health care institutions， speed up the reform of public hospitals， and encourage non-government bodies to operate hospitals.

We should progressively improve the government population policy， and adhere to the basic state policy on family planning. In response to changes in the size and structure of China’s total population， we should comprehensively solve problems relating to the size， health， structure and geographical distribution of the population and promote longterm， balanced population development.

We should strengthen and make innovations in social management. We should improve the way the government provides public services， strengthen the system of social management and services at the community level， and improve self-governance by villagers and urban residents， to ensure that the people directly exercise their democratic rights in accordance with the law by managing communitylevel public affairs and running public service programs.

We should tighten regulation of the real estate market and strengthen construction of government-subsidized housing. We need to firmly rein in speculative and investment-driven housing demand， promptly improve the accountability system for stabilizing housing prices and the policies for regulating the real estate market， and strengthen mechanisms for sustaining its steady and sound development.

We should deepen reform of the management system for science and technology. We should integrate science and technology more closely with the economy， and establish a technological innovation system that is based on enterprises， guided by the market， and integrates enterprises， universities and research institutes.