Full Text: Report on the Work of the Government(4)

2. Accelerating adjustment of the economic structure and improving the quality and performance of economic development

We adhered to the strategy of expanding domestic demand. As a result, the contribution of domestic demand to economic growth increased significantly, and the share of current account surplus in the GDP dropped from 10.1% to 2.6%.

The upgrading in the mix of private consumption accelerated.

-- At the end of 2012, the per capita living area of urban and rural residents was 32.9 square meters and 37.1 square meters respectively, an increase of 2.8 and 5.5 over 2007.

-- Car ownership stood at 21.5 cars per 100 urban households, an increase of 15.5 over 2007.

-- Travel- and entertainment-related spending has risen substantially.

We adhered to the new path of industrialization with distinctive Chinese features and promoted transformation and upgrading of industrial sectors.

-- China's manufacturing industry became the largest in the world. With added-value growing at an average annual rate of 13.4% during the past five years, high-tech manufacturing has become a leading pillar of the economy.

-- Strategic emerging industries grew rapidly, including clean energy, energy conservation, environmental protection, next-generation information and communication technology, biomedicines, and high-end equipment manufacturing.

-- The overall quality of manufactured goods steadily improved.

-- The share of value-added of the service sector in the GDP increased by 2.7 percentage points, and it now creates more jobs than any other sector.

We made steady progress in conserving energy, reducing emissions, and protecting the environment. Over the past five years, the following backward production facilities were closed:

-- Iron works with a total output capacity of 117 million tons.

-- Steel mills with a capacity of 78 million tons.

-- Cement plants with a capacity of 775 million tons.

Moreover, in the past five years:

-- Daily urban sewage treatment capacity increased by 46 million tons.

-- Energy consumption per unit of GDP fell by 17.2%.

-- Total chemical oxygen demand fell by 15.7%.

-- Total sulfur dioxide emissions fell by 17.5%.

-- Environmental air quality standards were revised.

-- The air quality index for monitoring fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was added.

Progress was made in major ecological projects to protect virgin forests, afforest marginal farmland, and prevent and control desertification. Over the past five years:

-- An additional 29.53 million hectares of land were planted with trees.

-- Desertification was halted on 11.96 million hectares of land.

-- Soil erosion on 246,000 square kilometers of land was brought under control.

-- A total of 180,000 square kilometers of land were improved.

We implemented the master strategy for regional development, promulgated and implemented the national plan for developing functional zones, formulated new ten-year guidelines for the large-scale development of the western region and a number of regional development plans, and accelerated leapfrog development of Tibet and Xinjiang. We formulated and implemented a new ten-year program for rural poverty alleviation and development, raised the poverty line to 2,300 yuan at 2010 prices, and intensified efforts to alleviate poverty in contiguous areas with acute difficulties. Major economic indicators rose faster in the central and western regions and northeast China than the national average. Transformation and upgrading of the industrial sector in the eastern region accelerated, and a pattern of regional development is taking shape in which each region both has its distinctive strengths and draws on the strengths of other regions.

We advanced urbanization actively yet prudently. Over the past five years:

-- A total of 84.63 million rural residents migrated to urban areas.

-- The urbanization level rose from 45.9% to 52.6%, marking a historic turning point in China's urban-rural population structure.

Development between urban and rural areas and between regions became more balanced.