Full text: Report on China's central, local budgets(7)

Spending on agriculture, forestry, and water conservancy amounted to 478.526 billion yuan, 104.3% of the budgeted figure and an increase of 23.3%. This figure consists of 41.657 billion yuan of central government spending and 436.869 billion yuan in transfer payments to local governments. We spent 139.878 billion yuan to strengthen agricultural and rural infrastructure. With this money, we built small irrigation and water conservancy facilities in 1,250 key counties, assisted 1,100 counties in preventing and responding to geological disasters due to mountain torrents, completed ahead of schedule all tasks of reinforcing dilapidated key small reservoirs, and harnessed 1,239 small and medium-sized rivers. We used 135.13 billion yuan to improve the dynamic mechanism for adjusting general subsidies for agricultural supplies and the policy of subsidies to help pay agricultural insurance premiums, consolidate the policy of subsidies for superior crop varieties, and further expand the scope of subsidies for the purchase of agricultural machinery. We allocated 16.3 billion yuan to promote wider application of agricultural technology and stimulate development of modern agriculture and specialized farmer cooperatives. We disbursed 23.012 billion yuan to upgrade 1.619 million hectares of low- and medium-yield cropland to high-yield standards, 13.6 billion yuan to establish a subsidy and award mechanism for grassland ecological conservation in major herding provincial-level administrative areas, and 31.41 billion yuan in subsidies to put in place a comprehensive fiscal policy system for poverty alleviation and support poverty relief efforts in contiguous areas with particular difficulties. We also earmarked 18.3 billion yuan to support the building of 340,000 village-level public works projects, the launching of which were determined by villagers themselves, and carry forward trials of paying off public service debts of villages and townships in an orderly manner.

Spending on energy conservation and environmental protection came to 162.303 billion yuan, 102% of the budgeted figure and an increase of 12.5%. This figure consists of 7.419 billion yuan of central government spending and 154.884 billion yuan in transfer payments to local governments. A total of 94.4 billion yuan was spent to conserve energy and reduce emissions. With these funds, we strengthened development of key energy conservation projects capable of saving the equivalent of more than 22 million tons of standard coal each year. We redoubled efforts to implement the project for promoting energy-efficient products for the benefit of the people, putting into use over 5 million kilowatts of energy-efficient electric motors, more than 16 million highly efficient and energy-conserving air-conditioners, and 160 million energy-efficient lighting products, and shut down backward production facilities with a total capacity of 150 million tons at cement plants, 31.22 million tons at iron foundries, and 19.25 million tons at coke works. We carried out major emissions reduction projects, including those to prevent and control water pollution in the watersheds of the Huai, Hai, Liao, and Songhua rivers and Tai, Chao, and Dianchi lakes; constructed 20,000 kilometers of sewer lines to complement urban sewage treatment facilities; and conducted environmental improvement demonstrations in about 10,000 contiguous villages across 17 provincial-level administrative areas. We spent 47.456 billion yuan to implement the second phase of the project for protecting virgin forest resources and consolidate achievements already made in returning farmland to forests and grazing land to grasslands. We spent 13.943 billion yuan to carry forward demonstration projects on the use of new energy in buildings, use biomass energy comprehensively, carry out demonstrations on the use of renewable energy in buildings, and promote the development of a circular economy.