Xi Jinping: Deepening Supply-Side Structural Reform in Financial Sector

Xi Jinping： Deepening Supply-Side Structural Reform in Financial Sector

The Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee recently held the 13th group study session on improving financial services and preventing financial risks. Xi Jinping， general secretary of the CPC Central Committee， stressed the need to deepen the understanding of international and domestic financial situations， grasp the essence of financial work， expand the supply-side structural reform in the financial sector， and balance the relationship between steady growth and risk prevention. He pointed out that the country should effectively deal with risks in key areas， and extend reform and opening-up of the financial sector to promote its sound development.

Xi made the remarks while presiding over the session. He pointed out that the financial sector is a countrys core area of competitiveness， financial security is an important part of national security， and the financial system is an important basic structure in economic and social development.

Since the start of reform and opening-up， Chinas financial sector has made remarkable achievements. In particular， since the 18th CPC National Congress， the country has carried out financial reform in an orderly manner to address financial risks. The financial sector has maintained rapid development， financial products have been increasingly enriched， financial services have become more accessible， and financial regulation has been strengthened and improved. However， the market structure， business philosophy， innovation capability， and service level still fall short of the demands of high-quality economic development， which are to be improved in all areas.

Chinas Expressways to Go Cashless

At the press conference held by the Information Office of the State Council recently， Li Xiaopeng， minister of transport， revealed that by the end of this year， mobile payments could be made at all the people-managed expressway toll booths across the country.

Li said， so far， people-operated expressway toll lanes in 14 out of the 29 provinces included in the national highway network are covered by mobile payments.

Li also introduced the related work by the Ministry of Transport in the area of driverless vehicles. He said that autonomous driving is a cutting-edge technology， and that the Ministry of Transport attaches great importance to its development and application.

In April 2018， the Ministry of Transport， the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued trial measures， allowing road tests of intelligent vehicles. China， for the first time， regulated the road test for autonomous driving at the national level. In July 2018， the Ministry of Transport also issued interim technical guidelines on the construction of closed test sites for autonomous driving. So far， three enclosed sites have been established in Beijing， Chongqing， and Xian.

Green， Organic， Standard Farm Produce to Increase

China issued a national strategic plan for the quality development of agriculture（2018-2022）， which sets out the layout， development goals， and key tasks for the next several years. According to the plan， by 2022， a qualityoriented agricultural system will come into being， and by 2035， decisive progress in the quality of agriculture will be made， and agricultural and rural modernization will become a reality.

The safety of agricultural products is something consumers are most concerned about. The plan also stipulates that by 2022， the overall qualification rate in routine monitoring on quality and safety of agricultural products should reach over 98 percent， and that the number of agricultural produce certified and registered with green， organic and geographical labels should increase by six percent annually.

In addition， the plan proposes establishing a standard system which is “highly open and covers the whole country” for tracing things like pesticide use in agricultural produce. By 2022， a total of 280，000 demonstration sites will be built， and 80 percent of farmers specialized cooperatives， leading agricultural enterprises， and other entities above the designated size in counties will be qualified to provide traceable produce.

Ministry of Education： 135 Million Students Received Aid in 2018

The Ministry of Education released a report on financial aid to students across China in 2018. According to the report， with the joint efforts of the Ministry of Finance， the Ministry of Education， the central authorities， and local governments at all levels， as well as schools at all levels， the national student financial assistance policy system has seen gradual improvement.

The report showed that in 2018， a total of 98.01 million students from preschool to university received government subsidies， up by 2.1 million from the previous year. In addition to this， another 37 million students had access to government-subsidized nutritious meals， making the total number of Chinese students who received aid by governments at all levels reach 135 million in the past year.

In 2018， governments at all levels granted close to RMB 130 billion （US $19.37 billion） to students across the nation， an increase of 6.56 percent over the previous year. During the nine-year compulsory education period， all the students were exempted from tuition fees， textbook fees， and other miscellaneous fees.

The report further mentioned that in 2019， the Ministry of Education will focus on promoting issuing financial aid in a targeted manner， strengthening standardized management and improving public knowledge of financial aid policies.