Full text: Report on China's economic, social development plan

III. Major Tasks for Economic and Social Development in 2014

This year we will do our work well in the following nine areas:

1. Comprehensively deepen reform and expand opening up

1) Reform of the administrative system. We will abolish or delegate to lower-level governments more items requiring central government review and approval, and set up a system for listing all items for which government review and approval must be retained and release the list to the public. We will move faster to establish a mechanism of coordinating management between government bodies at both the same and different levels and improve methods of government supervision. We will continue promoting the industrial and commercial registration system in which the practice of issuing an operating permit before a license is replaced with the practice of license first, operating permit second. We will carry out reform of the system for the use of official cars. We will conduct trials to separate industry associations and chambers of commerce from administrative bodies.

2) SOE reform. We will correctly define the functions of different SOEs and reform natural monopoly industries. We will encourage non-public businesses to take part in SOE reform and vigorously develop mixed-ownership structures. We will improve the system for managing state-owned assets.

3) Reform of the fiscal and tax systems. We will take further steps to release the budgets and final accounts of governments and departments, increase the proportion of general transfer payments, and reduce special transfer payments. We will improve budgets for state capital operations and raise the proportion of profits from state capital operations central government enterprises should turn over to public finance. We will adjust the scope of, links to and rates of excise tax collection and reform the resource tax on coal. We will study how to properly share power between the central and local governments in a step-by-step manner.

4) Reform of the financial system. We will put in place a deposit insurance system, take steady steps to advance the reform of policy-based financial institutions and encourage the establishment of small and medium-sized private banks and other financial institutions, and improve the risk disposal mechanism for financial institutions. We will promote reform of the stock issuance system. We will further deregulate interest rates. We will promote the healthy development of Internet banking. We will try harder to form a market-based exchange rate mechanism, expand cross-border use of the RMB, and promote the RMB's convertibility under capital accounts.

5) Pricing reform of resource products. We will adjust the prices of on-grid wind power in good time, carry out price reforms of electricity transmission and distribution on a trial basis, and improve the mechanism for coupling the prices of coal to those of electricity and the mechanism for pricing electricity generated by pumped-storage plants. We will make timely adjustments to city gate prices for non-household natural gas equivalent to the amount used in 2012. We will establish a sound system of tiered pricing for household consumption of water and natural gas. We will raise fees for the discharge of major pollutants and the prices of water supplied to some water conservancy projects. We will improve the mechanism for setting rail fares.

6) Reform of the investment system. We will move faster to introduce regulations on government investment. We will revise the methods for reviewing and approving items to be funded by domestic enterprises and foreign capital as well as outbound investment projects. We will improve the way in which review and approval work is carried out, and simplify the process to make it more efficient and transparent. We will carry out the reform of the investment and financing systems for the railway industry.

7) Reform of rural systems. We will prudently carry out the trial reform of the rural land system, and quickly determine, register and certify contracted rural land-use rights and use rights of collective land for construction purposes. We will promote the transfer of contracted rural land-use rights in an orderly manner, and develop multiple forms of larger-scale operations. We will improve the land expropriation system and safeguard farmers' fair share of value added to land. We will improve the system of commercial agricultural services and expand the trials to provide commercial services for the whole process of agricultural production. We will improve reform of the collective forest tenure system and advance reform of state-owned forestry farms and areas. We will continue with the reform to relieve state-owned farms of social services.

8) Reform of and innovations in social programs. We will advance reforms in vocational education and in examination and enrollment, and encourage nongovernmental investment in education. We will expand the comprehensive trial reform of public hospitals, and consolidate and improve the system of using basic medicines and the new operating mechanisms of community-level medical and health care institutions. We will encourage cultural enterprises' acquisitions and reorganizations across regions, industries and forms of ownership, and allow nongovernmental capital to hold controlling shares in state-owned film and television studios and theatre troupes to transform them into businesses. We will press ahead with the trials to comprehensively reform services for the elderly. We will lift control of some service prices and charges in the process of reforming social programs. In addition, we will steadily push forward national integrated reforms on a trial basis.

We will vigorously implement the win-win strategy of opening up and raise our level of opening to the outside world.

1) Improving the import and export makeup. We will consolidate our traditional advantages in export; get the export of large equipment sets to stimulate the export of interrelated industries and services; and give exports greater support in credit insurance and financing. We will guide the upgrading of the processing trade. We will appropriately handle trade frictions. We will increase the import of technologies, resources, and products in short supply domestically. We will energetically promote trade in services.

2) Relaxing controls over market access for foreign investment. We will deepen reform of the system for managing foreign investment and explore ways to provide it with pre-establishment national treatment together with negative list management. We will move faster to open banking, education, culture, medical care and other services to foreign investment in an orderly way. We will encourage the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone to lead the way and explore new paths in reform. We will improve the security review system for businesses involving foreign capital. Non-financial foreign direct investment is expected to reach $121.7 billion in 2014, up 3.5%.

3) Supporting capable Chinese enterprises in going global more quickly. We will improve policies supporting outbound investment, reform and simplify foreign exchange controls, efficiently utilize foreign exchange reserves to support outbound investment, deepen outbound cooperation and investment in energy and resources and agricultural development, and guide advantageous industries to do business globally. China's non-financial outbound direct investment will amount to $99.2 billion in 2014, an increase of 10%.

4) Strengthening bilateral, multilateral and regional economic cooperation. We will open China's inland and border areas wider to the outside world, and holistically push forward the building of major international thoroughfares in the interior region of the country. We will work vigorously to build the Silk Road Economic Belt, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and strengthen infrastructure connectivity with neighboring countries. We will carry on with negotiations on establishing key bilateral free trade zones with the Republic of Korea and Australia and on entering into regional comprehensive economic partnerships.