Report on China's Central, Local Budgets
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5) Expenditures to develop low-income housing totaled 18.19 billion yuan, an increase of 114.3%. More families were made eligible for low-rent housing and rent subsidies for such housing became available to more people. We made steady progress in renovating shantytowns (old and dilapidated housing). A total of 2.95 million low-income urban families across the country benefited from the low-rent housing program. This included 2.29 million families enjoying rent subsidies, 260,000 households renting government-managed housing, and 340,000 families paying discounted rent.
6) Expenditures on culture reached 25.281 billion yuan, up 20% and equivalent to 99.9% of the target. Admission to 1,007 museums and memorial halls across the country was offered free of charge to the public. We supported the project to build a national shared database for cultural information and resources; this has proceeded ahead of schedule and now covers all counties in some provinces and municipalities directly under the central government. Grant of subsidies to enable villages to show movies has been extended to all incorporated villages in the central and western regions. We supported 46,434 incorporated villages in the central and western regions in purchasing suitable books and rewarded those provinces and municipalities directly under the central government in the eastern region that did well in setting up rural reading rooms.
7) Spending on science and technology reached 116.329 billion yuan, up 16.4% and equivalent to 102.6% of the target. This included 90.391 billion yuan applied to step up basic and applied research and 6 billion yuan to launch and carry out all the 16 key state science and technology projects. Funds were used to enable key state laboratories to allow outside personnel to use their facilities and design, manufacture and upgrade their instruments and equipment, and undertake independent innovation and research. Funds were also used to develop a system of industrial technologies for modern agriculture involving 50 major farm products.
8) Spending on environmental protection totaled 104.03 billion yuan, up 33% and equivalent to 101.2% of the target. Included in this total is 42.3 billion yuan used to promote development of the ten major energy conservation projects and the circular economy, control water pollution in key river valleys, and improve urban water supply and wastewater pipe networks in the central and western regions, and 49.96 billion yuan used to support the project to protect natural forests and implement policies for returning farmland to forests and returning grazing land to natural grasslands. Funds were used to finance the trial of a compensation and credit trading system for the right to release pollutants in the Tai Lake basin and the Binhai New Area of Tianjin. Funds were also spent to promote comprehensive utilization of resources and develop new and renewable energy sources.
9) Spending on industry, commerce and banking totaled 387.135 billion yuan, an increase of 59.4% and equivalent to 114.8% of the target. This figure includes 86.7 billion yuan in direct subsidies to grain farmers and general subsidies for purchasing agricultural supplies, representing an increase of 103%, which benefited 728 million farmers. Another 46.169 billion yuan was used to raise the minimum grain purchase prices three times by a significant accumulative of more than 20%, implement a short-term policy for purchasing and storing major agricultural products, and maintain grain and edible oil reserves. A total of 36.538 billion yuan in subsidies was granted to the fishery industry and four other major industries seriously affected by adjustments in prices of refined petroleum products. Another 2 billion was used to extend to 12 provincial-level administrative areas the program to grant subsidies to enable rural residents to buy home appliances. A total of 89.5 billion yuan was used to support reform of the banking system. Finally, 36.969 billion yuan was spent to promote industrial upgrading and restructuring and accelerate industrial application of new and high technologies.