According to the requirement of the Central Government, beginning in 2007, the minimum living standards guarantee system should be established in all rural areas. The state treasury should grant support to the establishment and improvement of this system.

In fact, the Central Government has constantly strengthened its support for the development of rural social undertakings. Last year, among the Central Government's budgeted investment and the treasury bond investment, 53 billion yuan was devoted to agriculture and rural construction, accounting for 45.74 percent of the total investment scale. In 2006, the state budget related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers was 339.7 billion yuan, up 14.2 percent on 2005.

"The practice of inclining the financial expenditure to rural areas has been a major trend over the past two years and will continue for quite a long time in the future," said Chen Xiwen, Director of the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group. "It will not only facilitate the development of modern agriculture, but also help narrow the gap between urban and rural areas."

People-oriented

In addition to giving priority to rural construction, the Ministry of Finance will attach equal importance to science, education, culture, public health, social security, resource conservation, ecological construction and environmental protection.

For a long time, the structure of China's financial expenditure mainly featured government investment on economic construction and administrative management expenditure. As a result, the construction of the public finance system, which provides public service products, has lagged behind. It leads to an embarrassing situation: In spite of rapid economic development, the inefficient and insufficient public service goods plague citizens relating to problems in education and medicare. The 2007 budget will better address problems relating to people's livelihood and public service programs.

Jin Renqing pointed out that it is imperative that the vast majority of people enjoy the achievement brought about by reform and development, as well as the patronage of public finance.

Jin also stated that this year, more urban employees will enjoy the benefits of the basic medical treatment insurance system. Support will be granted to retired workers from bankrupt enterprises or businesses with financial problems to join the system. More aid will be given to urban and rural medical treatment. Central finance will also be committed to improve the pension insurance system for urban employees. Public interest-oriented cultural undertakings and the cultural industry will be developed at a faster speed. The government will intensify its effort to improve the reemployment and social security work. The distribution system will be further rectified.

Zhang Tong said this year the central budget will make breakthroughs in education, public health and the social security system.

In terms of education, in addition to carrying out free compulsory education in rural areas, the central budget will also support the universalization of compulsory education in rural areas. Children from poverty-stricken urban families and those of migrant workers will receive support from the central budget. The establishment of a stipend and low-interest loan system for senior middle school, university and vocational school students will be put under deliberation. The system aims to let children from poor families finish their education through the support of the government.

In 2007, the proportion of expenditure on education will be raised to 4 percent of the GDP. The public education resources will lean toward rural areas, the country's central and western parts, poverty-stricken areas, border areas and minority regions, in an effort to promote the coordinated development of public education.