Premier Li Keqiang Meets the Press: Full Transcript of Questions and Answers

People's Daily: The COVID-19 pandemic has made some difficulties related to people's lives more acute, including in the areas of medical services, education, elderly and child care. This has been an area of weakness in our country's economic and social development, and our people have not felt as many gains or as much happiness as they deserve. What measures will the government take to tackle these problems?

Premier Li: With a modest increase over the previous year, total fiscal spending for this year is of no small amount, and will be weighted towards the wide range of areas related to people's lives, especially compulsory education and basic medical care. If the economy keeps the positive momentum in the second half of the year, we intend to channel a greater share of budgetary expenditures and funds raised by issuing government bonds to these areas. Such inputs may not make a big difference in driving GDP growth for the current year, but they are critical for laying a solid foundation for China's long-term development and bettering people's lives. We must continue to implement the development thinking of putting people at the center, which is an important component of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Our government is a people's government. It must respond to the people's needs.

Education and health concerns the future of every family and every nation. While I was attending the deliberation of a provincial delegation during the two sessions this year, the headmaster of a secondary school told me that in county and township secondary schools, quality teachers are in short supply. Their pay packages are inadequate and it is difficult for them to further their education. This year we will scale up on-the-job training for teachers in counties and townships to help them further their education. Preferential arrangement will be made for their professional title assessment. Children of rural migrant workers in cities with urban residency permits must be given an opportunity for education. No child should be put at a disadvantage because of his/her family background or where he/she comes from. Educational fairness is most important in ensuring equal access to opportunities.

Good health is the foundation of happiness. It is also in itself a productive force. Our medical institutions in counties and townships are still weak, hence people have to go to big hospitals in big cities for medical treatment. This year we will increase funding support for medical institutions, including health clinics, in counties and townships, through multiple channels. The government will also take a series of concrete steps, including expanding the coverage of reimbursement of outpatient bills and medical expenses for common disease drugs, and lowering the prices of drugs and high-priced consumables. The purpose is to help make access to medical services easier and lessen the financial burden on patients. This will also help consolidate the gains we have made in ending abject poverty, so that people won't go back into poverty because of falling ill.

In terms of elderly and child care, we will rely more on private actors in running community-based services in these areas. They will receive tax breaks and other preferential policies from the government, so that each and every family will have less burden in terms of elderly and child care and feel the warmth of government support. In a word, there are still many areas where a lot needs to be done to improve people's lives and we need to tackle these problems in the course of development. Our country's social security system intends to meet people's basic needs with a broad-based coverage. While strengthening social protection through development, we must also keep our focus on the top priorities. Compulsory education and basic medical care are things that concern each and every individual as well as the future of our country and nation. Governments at all levels must fully live up to their responsibilities in these fields.

Lianhe Zaobao: China said it will foster a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international calculations reinforcing each other. I wonder if this is a kind of strategic retreat that China feels compelled to make due to the encirclement by the United States and other Western countries. As China develops domestic circulation and builds a supersized domestic market, what changes will that effect? Will it mean a dwindling space for foreign investment?

Premier Li: China will have a keen grasp of the new development stage, implement the new development philosophy, and move faster to foster a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other. This is to boost our domestic market and open China wider to the world. The Chinese economy has become deeply integrated into the global economy. Shutting its door to the world will lead nowhere. We will continue to take the initiative to open wider. This is what we need to do and it is also beneficial for the whole world.

Rising domestic demand in China will drive its own development and present great opportunity for foreign investment, products and services. While I was attending the deliberation of a provincial delegation, an entrepreneur said that if one gets the domestic circulation, it will help him leverage the domestic market; by getting dual circulation, one will be in a good position to leverage the international markets, and the two markets can be linked up. He made the case in a simple and succinct way.

Openness calls for joint efforts among countries. Last year, after eight years of negotiations, 15 countries, namely the 10 ASEAN countries, China, Japan, the ROK, Australia and New Zealand, concluded the RCEP agreement, the largest FTA in the world. This is an FTA among countries different in social system, cultural heritage and stage of development. Its conclusion shows that with mutual respect and equality, countries with such differences can work things through, reach consensus, identify common interests and add to the good of people of these countries. This agreement is also important for keeping regional industrial and supply chains stable and boosting global economic growth.

China is an important component of the world industrial and supply chains. China will continue to play its due role and live up to its due responsibilities. We will continue to uphold the multilateral trading regime based on WTO rules, and China has a positive and open attitude towards any multilateral or bilateral mechanism that helps achieve mutual benefit.

We will continue to take the initiative to open further. We will further shorten the negative list on market access for foreign investors and further open up our services and other sectors. I know that foreign investors following keenly the development of China's business environment. We will continue to foster a world-class, market-oriented business climate governed by a sound legal framework. We believe that by taking various actions to expand domestic demand and further open up, China will remain a key destination for foreign investment and a big market to the world.

The Press Conference was held via video link between the main venue, the Golden Hall on the third floor of the Great Hall of the People, and the Press Center for the NPC and CPPCC Sessions at Media Center Hotel. It lasted for about 110 minutes.