Full text: Report on China's central, local budgets (11)

Third, we will actively encourage government procurement of services. We will step up the preparation of catalogs of services for government procurement by including more services and more areas. We will establish a performance evaluation mechanism for such services and explore the possibility of third-party evaluations.

Fourth, we will improve the government procurement system. We will implement the policy of holding procurement quotas in reserve for small and medium enterprises. We will further expand the range of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly products eligible for government procurement. We will put in place a policy of providing support to innovative products through government procurement on a trial basis. We will move forward with reform to adopt bulk and centralized procurement practices to help lower government procurement costs.

5. Strengthening the management of local government debt

We will enhance awareness in relation to risk prevention and control, and while strengthening management of central government debt, we will tighten regulation of the debt of local governments. First, we will strengthen debt ceiling management and budgetary management. We will establish appropriate ceilings under which local governments may borrow and pay back debt in order to keep such debt under strict control. The revenue and expenses generated by local government debt will be incorporated into their budgets and will be subject to oversight by the people's congresses at the same level. A permanent mechanism will also be put in place to see that local government debt ceilings as well as the revenue and expenses generated by local government debt are publically released alongside local government budgets.

Second, we will improve risk evaluation and early warning mechanisms. We will utilize a wide variety of risk indicators to evaluate the risks that debt poses to local governments and issue warnings to local governments exposed to high levels of risk. We will urge and guide localities in establishing mechanisms for responding to debt risk emergencies.

Third, we will carry out our work related to local government bond issuance. We will make improvements to issuance methods, increase the usage of market-based pricing in bond issuance, and coordinate the pace of national and local bond issuance. We will conduct research on promoting diversification among the investors who hold local government bonds and actively work to establish a secondary market for these bonds in order to improve liquidity. We will guide local governments in deciding on an appropriate amount of new bonds to issue to replace their outstanding debt based on considerations of repayment needs and market conditions, and urge them to accelerate the replacement of treasury funds generated from the issuance of bonds. At the same time, we will improve supervision, evaluation, and accountability mechanisms for local government debt. We will work to accelerate the market-based transformation and financing of financing platform companies. We will improve management of all government debt. We will strengthen oversight to prevent the illegal borrowing or guaranty of debt and increase punishment for such activities.

Fellow Deputies,

The completion of the budgets for 2016 is of great importance. We should rally more closely around the CPC Central Committee headed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, hold aloft the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, conscientiously accept the oversight of the NPC, solicit the comments and suggestions of the CPPCC National Committee, and forge ahead with determination and hard work to better perform our fiscal duties, making a positive contribution to the promotion of sustained, sound economic development as well as social harmony and stability. Endi