6. Efforts were intensified to improve people's lives and strengthen social programs.

The incomes of urban and rural residents continued to rise and they enjoyed greater benefits. Rural per capita net income reached 4,761 yuan and urban per capita disposable income came to 15,781 yuan, rising by 8 percent and 8.4 percent in real terms respectively. Policies to promote employment and to stimulate job creation by encouraging entrepreneurship were improved; 11.13 million new jobs were created for urban residents, and the registered urban unemployment rate stood at 4.2 percent at the end of the year. The social safety net continued to expand. There were 17.53 million people newly covered by urban basic old-age insurance, 93.87 million by urban basic medical insurance, 7.55 million by unemployment insurance, 16.37 million by workers' compensation and 14.06 million by maternity insurance. The level of basic old-age pensions for enterprise retirees was raised by 110 yuan per person per month. Trials of providing basic medical insurance for non-working urban residents were extended to 229 more cities. The new type of rural cooperative medical care system was set up in all targeted counties or county-level cities and districts. Further progress was made in developing the social security system for farmers whose land was expropriated. A total of 630,000 dwelling units of low-rent housing were built in urban areas, and the housing problem for a total of 1.9 million low-income urban families was resolved by providing them with low-income housing or granting them rent subsidies. Energetic progress was made in developing community-based services, children's welfare facilities, facilities for assisting and protecting homeless juveniles, and facilities providing comprehensive services for people with disabilities. Poverty alleviation through development was intensified, and the poverty line was raised again. Work-relief funds were used for developing 72,000 hectares of basic farmland. The potable-water problem was solved for 1.9 million people and 1.1 million heads of livestock in poverty-stricken areas. In the western region, 320,000 people were relocated from inhospitable places as a poverty relief effort.

Social programs were strengthened. Free compulsory education was made universal in all urban and rural areas of the country. Vocational education developed at a faster pace. The system of financial aid for students from poor families was gradually improved. Conditions were improved in rural primary and junior secondary schools. A total of 6.89 million square meters of living facilities were built for 3,519 rural junior secondary schools. Support was provided for strengthening the infrastructure of 722 secondary vocational schools and county-level vocational education centers. There were 182 special education schools newly built, renovated or expanded. The third phase of the 211 Higher Education Project was begun. The secondary gross enrollment ratio was eight percentage points higher than the previous year. Regular undergraduate enrollment increased by 420,000, and graduate enrollment by 27,000. Development of community-level medical care services and family planning facilities was accelerated. Support was provided for building more than 20,000 clinics in towns and townships, 430 county hospitals, 209 Chinese medicine hospitals, and 369 maternity and child health centers. Special funds were used for developing 159 key Chinese medicine hospitals at or above the prefecture level, 1,231 county-level family planning service facilities and central family planning service stations for towns and townships, and more than 8,800 village clinics in remote areas plagued by serious infectious or endemic diseases. The natural population growth rate stood at 5.08. Support was significantly strengthened for programs such as extending radio and TV coverage to all villages, building multipurpose cultural centers in towns and townships, protecting cultural and natural heritage sites, and developing tourism. The press and publishing, literature and art, philosophy and the social sciences all prospered. The development of urban and rural public sports facilities was intensified.