Full text: Report on China's economic, social development plan (6)

4) Progress in social programs was registered across the board.

We continued to improve the basic conditions of badly built and poorly operated schools providing compulsory education in poor areas. Projections put the retention rate of nine-year compulsory education at 92.6% and the gross enrollment ratio for senior secondary education at 86.5%. The proportion of rural students admitted to key colleges and universities continued to increase. We further improved the public health system and began to install a standardized training system for resident physicians. A policy of allowing couples to have two children if either parent is an only child was implemented throughout the country. We accelerated the development of public cultural services and basically completed the initiative to extend radio and television coverage to every village in the country. The total number of domestic tourist trips made last year reached 3.61 billion, up 10.7% over the previous year. Outbound trips exceeded 100 million for the very first time. We launched major projects in fitness and elderly care, and increased the number of nursing home beds to 26 per 1,000 elderly people. The sports industry and sports consumption developed at an accelerated rate, with 67,000 new sports venues being built. We continued to improve recovery and care services for the disabled. The number of service facilities for the disabled is estimated to have reached 3,867.

In view of the performance of the targets projected in the plan, overall targets for the national economy, such as the economic growth rate, the consumer price index, the balance of payments, and employment levels, remained within the proper range; some targets that reflect economic structure and quality were further improved; targets concerning social development and people's wellbeing kept a positive momentum; and targets concerning resource conservation and environmental protection were implemented satisfactorily. Overall, the planned targets were well met.

The 17 obligatory targets have all been achieved as planned. Among them, the target for rural land newly designated for construction and the target for land newly designated for construction as a whole are estimated to exceed the figures set at the beginning of the year. The main reasons for this are twofold:

First, during the post-earthquake efforts of recovery and reconstruction in Ludian, Yunnan, a portion of the land newly designated for construction was utilized in advance in accordance with the law, so the proper procedures for this land use will be made up for in accordance with regulations.

Second, in projects to link the amount of urban and rural land designated for construction to that of land returned to cultivation and in the efforts to reclaim land from deserted industrial and mining areas, part of the quota for land newly designated for construction was used to build housing for displaced rural residents. After reclamation of the abovementioned deserted areas is completed, that land will be used to offset the part of land newly designated for construction that was requisitioned for rural residents.

The overall performance of the 40 anticipatory targets was in line with or better than expectations, but some of them fell short of the planned figures. It should be noted that anticipatory targets are not predicted figures; they are development objectives that the country hopes to achieve and are a reflection of its policy orientation. The actual performance of these targets may be higher or lower than projected figures. There are many cases of discrepancies between the performance of targets and the figures projected.

First, some targets themselves are ceilings, so it is normal that actual performance of such targets may be lower than the targeted figures. An example of this is the target for the CPI.

Second, some targets are set a little higher than estimated figures in order to reflect the orientation of macro-control policies, with the growth rate of retail sales of consumer goods being one such target. The actual performance of these targets might vary a certain amount from targeted figures.

Third, some targets being lower than expected is due to unique factors. For instance, because the size of China's economy increased after the third national economic census, the target for R&D spending as a percentage of GDP was slightly lower than projected figure.

Fourth, uncontrollable factors such as changes in the domestic or international economic environment may cause the actual figures of some targets to be lower than projected. An example of this is how the sharp drop in the prices of major commodities in the international market has caused the growth rate in the total volume of US dollar-denominated imports and exports to be slower than expected.

In short, in the face of complex international political and economic situations and an increasing number of new problems and new challenges in China's development, the achievements that China has made thus far in economic and social development have not come easily. They are the result of the correct leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, as well as the concerted efforts of all regions, all departments, and the people of all our ethnic groups, and should all the more be fully recognized and cherished.

At the same time, we should also be keenly aware that world politics, the economy, and geopolitics are closely intertwined; the global economy is still under profound adjustment following the international financial crisis, and overall, it continues to recover slowly.

Domestically, the long-standing problems of unbalanced, uncoordinated, and unsustainable development remain unresolved; in its current stage of development, China has to simultaneously deal with the slowdown in economic growth, make difficult structural adjustments, and absorb the effects of previous economic stimulus policies; and there are many difficulties and challenges facing the economy. (Mo