Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, May 22 - Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council said in delivering the government work report on the 22nd that to accomplish this year's government tasks, we must, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the guiding principles from the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the second, third, and fourth plenary sessions of its 19th Central Committee, and resolutely implement the Party's basic theory, line, and policy. We must enhance our "Four Consciousnesses," strengthen our "Four Confidences," and uphold the "Two Safeguards." Focusing on the objectives and tasks of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, we must coordinate efforts to advance both epidemic control and economic and social development. Under the premise of making epidemic control routine, we will adhere to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, uphold the new development philosophy, and take supply-side structural reform as our main task. We will rely on reform and opening up as a driving force to promote high-quality development, resolutely fight the three critical battles, step up efforts to ensure stability on six fronts (employment, the financial sector, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment, and expectations), and maintain security in six areas (jobs, basic living needs, operations of market entities, food and energy security, stable industrial and supply chains, and the normal functioning of primary-level governments). We will steadfastly pursue the strategy of expanding domestic demand, safeguard overall economic development and social stability, ensure that we achieve our poverty alleviation targets and complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

At present and for some time to come, our country faces risks and challenges unseen before in its development. Yet, we have a unique political and institutional strength, a strong economic foundation, enormous market potential, and hundreds of millions of hardworking and talented people. As long as we confront these challenges head-on, foster firm confidence in development, enhance the impetus for growth, and safeguard and make the most of this important period of strategic opportunity for China's development, we will surely overcome the present difficulties, and China's development will be filled with promise.

After thoroughly assessing the situation, we have made appropriate adjustments to the targets we set prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. This year, we must give priority to stabilizing employment and ensuring living standards, win the battle against poverty, and achieve the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. We must create over nine million urban jobs, keep the surveyed urban unemployment rate at around six percent, and the registered urban jobless rate at around 5.5 percent. The CPI increase should be kept at around 3.5 percent. We should keep imports and exports steady and improve their structure, and keep the balance of payments basically balanced. Personal income growth should be generally in step with economic growth. We must eliminate poverty among all rural residents living below the current poverty line and in all poor counties. Major financial risks must be effectively forestalled. Energy consumption per unit of GDP and the discharge of major pollutants should continue to fall, and we should make every effort to meet the objectives of the 13th Five-Year Plan.

Let me point out that we have not set a specific target for economic growth this year. This is because our country will face some factors that are difficult to predict in its development due to the great uncertainty regarding the Covid-19 pandemic and the world economic and trade environment. Not setting a specific target for economic growth will enable all of us to concentrate on ensuring stability on six key fronts and security in six key areas.1 Security in the six key areas is the bottom line of the work of ensuring stability on the six key fronts. By holding the bottom line of maintaining security in the six areas, we will be able to keep the fundamentals of the economy stable. By ensuring security, we will be able to keep the economy running smoothly and maintain stable growth. This, in turn, will lay a solid foundation for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. It must be pointed out that whether it is to protect employment and people’s livelihood, meet the poverty elimination goal, or prevent and defuse risks, we must achieve economic growth, and a stable economic performance is of crucial significance. We need to pursue reform and opening up as a means to stabilize employment, ensure living standards, and promote consumption, invigorate the market, and stabilize growth. We need to blaze a new path that enables us to effectively respond to shocks and sustain a positive growth cycle.

We will pursue a more proactive and impactful fiscal policy. This year, the deficit-to-GDP ratio is projected at more than 3.6 percent, with a deficit increase of one trillion yuan over last year. At the same time, we will issue one trillion yuan of government bonds for Covid-19 control. These are extraordinary measures for an unusual time. All of the two trillion yuan will be transferred to local governments; a special transfer payment mechanism will be set up to ensure that funds go straight to prefecture and county governments and directly benefit businesses and people. These funds will be used primarily to ensure employment, meet basic living needs, and protect market entities. This includes giving support to cut taxes and fees, reduce rents and interest on loans, and boost consumption and investment, with public finance funds playing the role of priming the pump. The funds must be used where they are needed most and withheld or diverted by no means. We will take strong steps to improve the composition of fiscal spending, and ensure that spending in key areas is guaranteed while general expenditures are cut. We will see that spending on basic living needs is increased rather than decreased, and ensure sustained funding for key projects. We will strictly prohibit the construction of new government buildings or wasteful or excessive spending. Governments at all levels must truly tighten their belts. The central government will take the lead by committing to negative growth in its budgetary spending and continuing to cut expenditures on non-priority and non-obligatory items by more than 50 percent. All types of surplus, idle and carry-over funds will be withdrawn and reallocated. We will make every effort to improve quality and efficiency; all expenditures must be made with careful deliberation, and every sum of money must be spent where it is needed most and to the best effect. Market entities and the people must feel the benefit.

We will pursue a prudent monetary policy in a more flexible and appropriate way. We will use a variety of tools such as required reserve ratio reductions, interest rate cuts, and re-lending to enable M2 money supply and aggregate financing to grow at notably higher rates than last year. We will keep the RMB exchange rate generally stable at an adaptive and equilibrium level. We will develop new monetary policy instruments that can directly stimulate the real economy, and take steps to ensure enterprises can secure loans more easily, and promote steady reduction of interest rates.

We must give full force to the employment-first policy. Fiscal, monetary, and investment policies should all be geared toward supporting employment stability. We will strive to stabilize existing jobs, actively create new ones, and help unemployed people find work. All local governments must remove unreasonable restrictions on employment. Every possible measure must be taken to boost employment, and all possible avenues must be explored to create jobs.

Poverty alleviation is a tough task that must be accomplished to finish the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. We must uphold our current poverty standards, intensify the implementation of poverty alleviation measures, and ensure that all remaining poor people are lifted out of poverty. We will improve and follow sound mechanisms for monitoring and assisting people who have fallen back into poverty, and consolidate the gains we have made in poverty alleviation. We must protect our blue skies, clear waters, and clean lands, and achieve the targets set for critical battles in the fight against pollution. We will enhance prevention and control of major risks, and keep the bottom line of forestalling systemic risks.

Li Keqiang said that nearly five months have passed this year, and in the next stage, efforts should be made to maintain routine epidemic prevention and control without relaxation, and to promptly carry out various tasks related to economic and social development. The policies introduced should maintain their strength while considering sustainability, and can be improved according to changes in the situation. We are determined and capable of achieving the annual goals and tasks.