Reforms for the well-being of the people

CONTINUOUS OPENING-UP

The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone created last year is a test bed in which to explore the opening-up of more markets, including the capital market, as well as industries for foreign investment. It will also explore new measures that support international trade and rules that make doing business in China easier.

The Chinese government will implement a "negative list" model to restrict its own power and interference with the market, giving the market and society more freedom and space to evolve according to their own rules.

China will continue to reach out to the world and establish an open economic system. The Silk Road Economic Belt, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road proposal and a series of actions taken by China to promote regional integration and facilitate free trade reflect the country's will to further integrate globally.

The communique said China will strive to make social welfare fairer and more sustainable. Reform of social affairs is vital to guarantee all citizens enjoy the fruits of China's development, it said.

Guan Xinping, director of the department of social work and social policy at Nankai University, said China has almost met the goal of universal social welfare coverage for its urban and rural populations, but a great disparity still exists among different professions and regions.

"The system is fragmented, as different people enjoy different levels of welfare," he said. "It's vital for the government to tackle the disparity and enable people to enjoy equal welfare." He added that China's social welfare system should also be more sustainable, to cope with the potential risks from an aging population and inflation in the long run.

SOCIAL SECURITY

China has already created the largest basic social security net in the world, covering one-fifth of the global population with pension benefits, medical care and education. More than 300 million migrant workers are entitled to basic social insurance and various public services in the cities where they work and live. Filling the gap between the rural and urban welfare systems will be a key task for local governments in the near future as China's population will be aging fast.

By 2050, more than 35 percent of China's population will be above 60 years old. How to maintain the value of China's huge pension pool will be a challenge for the government. In terms of per capita wealth, China was ranked 90th in a list of 200 countries and regions in the world. As the "poorest" second-largest economy in history, China recognized the need to do more to take care of its fast-growing senior population. The central government decided to reform the family planning policy last year, allowing more couples to have more than one child under certain circumstances.

According to the communique, China's urban-rural structure is the main obstacle restricting the integrated development of cities and the countryside.

"We must develop a new type of integrated, mutually beneficial relationships between industry and agriculture, city and countryside, under which industry should promote agricultural development, and the city should promote progress in the countryside, to let farmers have equal chance to take part in modernization and share the fruits of modernity," it said.

Chen Xiwen, a researcher into agricultural development with the CPC Central Committee's Leading Group of Countryside Work, told media it is "absolutely necessary and practical" to integrate the city and countryside, and industry and agriculture, to improve farmers' livelihoods and fill the gaps in the dual structure.

"After being nurtured by farmers, industry and development in the cities should serve agriculture and the countryside in return," he said.

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