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2 A healthier - and better armed -
China By Wu Zhong, China Editor
HONG KONG - Skyrocketing costs of
education, medical care and housing in China have
been identified as the three major causes of
growing public discontent in recent years,
threatening social stability.
In an
apparent effort to placate the public and
implement President Hu Jintao's plan to build a
"harmonious society" and put "people first",
Premier Wen Jiabao said he will sharply increase
government spending on education and medical care
to help the
needy and to strengthen
efforts to bring down housing prices.
At
the same time, the Chinese government also plans
to increase its national-defense budget by 17.8%
this year to step up the modernization of the
country's military.
This is despite the
fact that Wen, in his government work report to
the annual session of the National People's
Congress (NPC) on Monday, only set a moderate
economic growth target of 8% for this year.
Wen announced a hefty educational
investment plan for this year, making education a
"strategic priority". A total of 85.85 billion
yuan (US$11 billion) will be allocated from the
central-government budget this year, an increase
of 42% over last year.
The premier said
part of the central educational fund will be used
to grant more poor students access to education.
"This is another major move we are taking to
promote fairness in education following the
exemption of all tuition and miscellaneous fees
for rural students receiving compulsory
education," Wen said in his report to the 2,890
Chinese lawmakers.
A system of national
scholarships and tuition assistance will go into
operation this semester, which starts early this
month, for regular undergraduate institutions,
vocational colleges and secondary vocational
schools, according to Wen's report.
Funds
appropriated for this purpose by the central
government will be 9.5 billion yuan this year and
20 billion yuan next year, and regional
governments are required to allocate corresponding
amounts from local budgets.
"Education is
the bedrock of China's development, and fairness
in education is an important form of social
fairness," said Wen. "We need to make education a
strategic priority and accelerate the development
of all types of education at all levels."
In China, tuition for an undergraduate
student is between 5,000 and 8,000 yuan per year,
which is equivalent to years of income for a
farmer in poor areas.
Wen said the country
will also grant free education for students
majoring in education in teacher colleges. "The
move is to show respect for teachers and education
in society and to produce larger numbers of
outstanding teachers."
Another highlight
of Wen's report is that the government will
increase its input to expand the country's rural
medical-care system to cover more than 80%
counties. "The trial area of the new type of rural
cooperative medical care system will be expanded
this year to cover over 80% of all counties,
county-level cities and city districts in China.
Areas possessing the proper conditions may expand
the trial faster than others," said Wen.
The central government will allocate 10.1
billion yuan for the project, 5.8 billion yuan
more than last year, according to Wen.
The
government will also expand the subsistence
allowance system to all rural poor, Wen announced.
The move is expected to bring a poverty-stricken
population of 23.7 million under the
social-security net.
"We will set up a
nationwide basic minimum cost-of-living-allowance
system this year for rural residents, which has
great and far-reaching significance for promoting
social fairness and building a harmonious
society," said Wen.
NPC deputy Fu Qiping,
a village head from Ningbo, Zhejiang province,
said the government's decision to cover all the
rural poor under the social-security net
represents a "big step in poverty alleviation for
the vast rural population".
About 23.65
million rural residents were living in "abject
poverty" in China by the end of 2006 with an
annual per capita income of less than 683 yuan,
according to statistics of the State Council
Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and
Development.
The premier vowed continuous
government efforts to control the overheated
property sector and keep housing prices at a
reasonable level. "The real-estate industry should
focus on developing reasonably priced commercial
housing for ordinary people. We will improve the
supply structure of commercial housing, and
strengthen oversight and regulation of housing
prices."
According to the National Bureau
of Statistics, the average price of newly built
commercial residential housing in 70 big and
medium-sized cities across the country rose 6.1%
in January from a year ago, with that in Beijing
climbing 9.9%.
Wen said the government
will pay particular attention to addressing the
housing problems of low-income families. "We will
increase fiscal and tax-policy support and set up
a sound system of low-rent housing."
He
noted that the central government will strengthen
supervision on the real-estate sector and crack
down on law-violating activities in property
development and sales. "Local governments must
assume their full share of responsibility for the
regulation and oversight of local property
markets."
To cool down the property sector
has been a major target of Beijing's
macroeconomic-control policy in recent years.
However, it has been largely ignored by local
governments as higher housing prices contribute
more to local gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
"Many local officials see the real-estate
sector as a major economic growth pillar. As a
result, they are unwilling to implement centrally
set measures to cool off the overheated property
sector," said Wang Changde, a member of
Chinese
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