First, we will strive to raise urban and rural incomes. We need to adjust the distribution of incomes, standardize the way income is distributed, and increase the income of people in the lower and middle income brackets. To increase rural incomes, we will continue to pursue the policy of giving more, taking less and loosening control. In particular, we need to adopt more measures to give more benefits to farmers. All local governments should make necessary adjustments to the minimum salary system and implement it strictly, and introduce a minimum hourly wage system. We need to gradually solve the problem of low wages for rural migrant workers in cities. We must establish laws and mechanisms for ensuring that wages are paid on time. We will conscientiously implement the revised Individual Income Tax Law and lower the tax burden on low- and middle-income people. This year, the government will appropriately raise basic pension benefits for retired enterprise employees, subsidies for entitled groups and subsistence allowances for urban residents. We will reform the civil servant pay system. We will establish a unified national salary system based on position and rank and a mechanism for regular pay increases and improve the system of allowances for difficult and remote border regions, all based on review and standardization of existing allowances and subsidies. In addition, we will promote reform of the income distribution system in public service institutions.

Second, we will keep expected individual spending stable and encourage immediate consumption. We will address people's concerns that increasing consumption will make them unable later to meet basic living needs by accelerating efforts to improve the social security system and solve major problems in education, public health and medical care, and housing.

Third, we will work hard to encourage consumption in rural areas. We will increase efforts to develop rural markets and promote the flow of goods, make full use of existing rural retail distribution networks, and support urban wholesale and retail businesses in setting up outlets in the countryside to stimulate rural consumption.

Fourth, we will improve the consumption environment and consumption-related policies. We will improve housing and public transportation conditions and take active steps to further develop tourism, cultural activities, fitness centers and other services. We will effectively safeguard consumers' lawful rights and interests. We will make appropriate adjustments to the current consumption tax, standardize and develop cons umer credit, promptly eliminate or revise unsuitable regulations and policies that discourage consumption, and promote more high-end consumption.

We will maintain fixed asset investment at an appropriate scale, continue to encourage the growth of some sectors while discouraging the expansion of others, improve the investment structure and prevent breakneck growth in investment. We will continue to properly control the availability of land and credit, practice the strictest possible land management system, and grant loans on the basis of proper qualifications and market access requirements. We will strictly control the number of new projects undertaken. We will strengthen weak links and key areas in economic and social development. We will continue efforts to restrict excessive real estate investment and lower overheated real estate prices in some cities. We need to adjust the types of real estate properties on the market by strictly controlling new high-end real estate projects and concentrating on building general commercial housing and low-cost housing. We will establish a sound system for renting affordable housing and a system for leasing housing. We will establish and standardize order in the real estate and construction markets, basically clear up all overdue payments related to construction projects, and promote the sound development of the real estate and construction industries.

2. Promoting the building of a new socialist countryside

Building a new socialist countryside is a major historic task set at the Fifth Plenary Session of the Sixteenth Central Committee of the Party, which will have an overall impact on building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and modernizing the country. We need to implement a policy of getting industry to support agriculture and cities to support the countryside, strengthen support for agriculture, rural areas and farmers, and continue making reforms in rural systems and innovations in rural institutions to bring about a rapid and significant change in the overall appearance of the countryside.

The first priority in developing a new socialist countryside is to develop modern agriculture and promote steady expansion of grain production and sustained increase in rural incomes. We will stabilize, improve and strengthen policies supporting agriculture. We will further increase direct subsidies to grain producers, subsidies for growing superior grain cultivars, and subsidies for agricultural machinery and tools as well as increase transfer payments to major grain-producing counties and financially strapped counties. We will continue and improve the floor price policy for key grain varieties and keep prices for agricultural supplies from rising too quickly. Central government budget expenditures for agriculture, rural areas and farmers this year will total 339.7 billion yuan, 42.2 billion yuan more than last year. We need to protect arable land, especially basic farmland, stabilize the acreage sown to grain, and expand overall grain production capacity. We will increase the country's capacity for innovation in agricultural science and technology and ability to put scientific and technological advances to practical use, and step up efforts to disseminate agricultural technology and improve agriculture-related technical services. We will accelerate reform of the veterinary medicine management system and development of the animal disease prevention and control system. We will continue to adjust the structure of agriculture by promoting development of the livestock and poultry industry, promoting the industrialization of agriculture, developing secondary and tertiary industries in rural areas, particularly for processing agricultural products, helping county economies grow, bringing about an orderly transfer of the rural workforce to nonagricultural employment in rural and urban areas, and increasing rural incomes through various channels.