Full Text: Report on China's economic, social development plan(13)

2. We will vigorously expand domestic demand, and maintain steady and robust economic development.

1) We will work hard to maintain growth in consumer demand. Total retail sales of consumer goods in 2012 are expected to increase 14%. We will intensify efforts to increase the income of low earners, steadily raise minimum wages of workers and basic pensions for enterprise retirees, and improve the salary system for government agencies and public institutions. We will vigorously develop the infrastructure for the distribution of goods in rural areas and small and medium-sized cities, as well as for culture and tourism, sports and fitness, and broadband networks. We will improve the policy for encouraging consumption of products that conserve energy or water and are environmentally friendly, and give priority to meeting the demand for loans from buyers who purchase general commodity housing units as their first homes. We will further study the issue and formulate a long-term policy to sustain the growth in consumption. We will energetically develop tourism, and this year, tourism revenue is projected to reach 2.475 trillion yuan, up 10%. We will effectively implement the system of paid vacations, encourage consumption in the areas of culture, tourism, fitness, domestic services, medical and health care, and elderly services, and vigorously develop online shopping and other new consumption formats. We will increase consumer credit. We will tighten oversight and control of product quality and safety, and inflict harsher punishments for illegal practices in the production and distribution of food and drugs.

2) We will continue to improve the investment structure. In 2012, total fixed-asset investment is expected to increase 16% nationwide. We will allocate investment funds of 402.6 billion yuan from the central government budget, an increase of 20 billion yuan over last year. We will give priority to ensuring funding for projects under construction or expansion that have been approved by the state; begin construction on the major projects in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan in an orderly manner; increase investment in low-income housing projects, education, health, and water conservancy, as well as in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Tibetan ethnic areas in Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces; and focus our support on infrastructural development in areas such as agriculture, rural areas and farmers, energy conservation and emissions reduction, environmental protection and ecological improvement, independent innovation and economic restructuring, and social programs and social administration. We will intensify supervision and inspection of major projects, particularly government- and state-invested ones, and improve the quality of and returns on investment. We will improve relevant measures for encouraging and guiding nongovernmental investment and rules and regulations for their implementation, and support nongovernmental investment in such areas as railway, public utilities, finance, energy, telecommunications, education and medical care. We will strictly control reckless expansion of industries that consume large quantities of energy and resources, are highly polluting or have excess production capacity, as well as the construction of office buildings and other facilities for Party and government agencies.

3) We will strengthen regulation of supplies of coal, electricity, oil, gas and transport. We will improve the coordination of coal production and transportation with demand; strengthen the demand-side management of electric power; guarantee steady supply of oil and gas; exercise overall coordination in transportation; and ensure that adequate supplies reach key areas at crucial times to meet the demands of key organizations and the people in work and living. We will increase efforts to analyze, study, and estimate economic activities and the energy situation in particular, improve the emergency response mechanism, and increase our ability to respond to emergencies. We will work harder to develop facilities for coal transportation and electricity transmission, start construction as quickly as possible on the coal transportation route from western Inner Mongolia to central China, and increase the coal transport capacity of existing railways. In 2012, raw coal output is expected to be about 3.65 billion tons, an increase of 3.7%; crude oil output will be 204 million tons, the same as last year; electricity production will hit 5.05 trillion kilowatt-hours, an increase of 7.5%; and the volume of rail freight transport will be 4.16 billion tons, an increase of 5.8%. Furthermore, we will enhance our ability to ensure adequate supply at home through international markets.