Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks at a press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 16, 2016. (Photo/Xinhua)
The five major social insurance programs and housing provident fund
CCTV: A question about contributions by the general public and businesses to the five major social insurance programs and housing provident fund. There is a rising call by the general public for cutting personal contributions to these social security packages and housing provident fund. A very typical case is that if you take a look at the wage list of individual, he may earn 8,000 yuan but he can only get actually less than 5,000 yuan, and the rest over 3,000 will be contributions to the social insurance package and the housing fund. Businesses also feel that they are under heavy burden to pay such contributions. Both hope that contributions can be brought down. But we also know that on the other hand, the funding financial resources and social security schemes may have been over-stretched. So I want to ask you, MrPremier, how would you respond to the public concern and how will the government resolve this issue? Has this issue being put on the government work agenda?
Li Keqiang: During the two sessions, some NPC deputies and CPPCC members have also suggested that appropriate adjustments be made to the proportion of contributions to these insurance schemes and fund by public and business community. The central government, the CPC Central Committee and State Council have paid very high attention to this issue. Last year, the State Council already adjusted downward the contributions by individuals and businesses to the insurance scheme covering places, safety, unemployment and maternity.
On the whole there's still room for us to cut the contributions to these insurance schemes and fund and conditions of different localities vary from each other. As I said before, we still have ample social security funds and local governments can be given great autonomy to make their own decisions of adjusting downward such contributions in keeping with their local conditions. All in all the purpose of our effort is to lessen corporate burden and put more money in the pockets of our people. Thank you!
Stability of Asia-Pacific region
Spanish News Agency EFE: Just in the last two months, actions of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have got the United States to increase its military presence in the Republic of Korea. At the same time, military tensions have increased in the South China Sea. And now Australia is in talks with the US in order to host strategic plane bombers in its territory And in the trade area 12 countries, not including China, have signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership. And my question is putting these together do you think that President Obama's focus in the Asia-Pacific region has already become a problem for China? Or do you see any other sources of instability in the whole Asia-Pacific area?
Li Keqiang: It seems that all your questions are related to China's neighborhood. So let me say that China all along believes in pursuing harmonious coexistence with its neighbors, and we always believe that we need to have a stable neighborhood environment.
It is up to the efforts of regional countries to maintain regional stability and harmony in the neighborhood. It is also natural that some differences may arise between neighbors. But we believe that as long as we all treat each other with sincerity and seek peaceful settlements to differences through diplomatic means, regional stability will be maintained. As for countries from outside the region, like the United States, we think the United States has never left the Asia-Pacific region. And all countries can work together to enhance cooperation and properly handle differences.
China is now pursuing modernization, hence development remains our top priority. China needs a stable neighborhood and a peaceful international environment for its domestic development. And a growing China will remain a staunch force for upholding global peace and it is also in the interests of China's neighbors. China will remain committed to the path of peaceful development and China will not waiver in its resolve to uphold sovereignty and territorial integrity and these two are not in conflict. Well we hope all countries from within this region and without will work together to uphold regional stability, not the opposite. That is in the interests of all.
Streamlining administration and delegating power
People's Daily: Just now you said that the government will continue to streamline administration and delegate power to stimulate market vitality, so my question is about this government reform. This reform has been going on for several years, but some companies and people still feel that it's difficult for them to get some things done. In some cases, they even feel quite at a loss as to what to do. My question is, what will the government do to proceed with this reform?
Li Keqiang: Streamlining administration and delegating powers holds the key to transforming governments' functions. Three years ago, on the same occasion, I promised that this government would cut the number of items that require State Council review and approval by one-third during its term. We have already fulfilled this target. Based on third-party evaluations, most of the companies and our people are satisfied with the progress of the reform. Yet, some problems still exist, and our people expect more from the government.
At present, there are still too many items that require government approval. For those items that do need to exist, there is a lack of unified standards. A few days ago, in my discussion with some representatives of NPC deputies, one of them said that they wanted to establish a local nursing home that combines medical care with elderly care. It's a very popular idea with the local people. But many of them feel quite at a loss as to what to do, because there are different standards and they need to go through a host of government review procedures, involving market access, departments in charge of designated places for medical insurance, and how fees are going to be collected or set, etc. So all these redundant procedures have held back the development of productivity and also effective consumer demand among people.
We must make persistent efforts to forge head on this government reform and wherever there is an obstacle to this reform, the government must get right on it. The reform will cut government power but we are determined to keep doing it until our job is done, as that will deliver clear benefits to our people even if the government has to make painful adjustments. This year we are determined to further cut the number of such government approval items and leave more such items to the market.
For those items that still exist, procedures need to be simplified. We also need to further unify existing standards. In the past few years, we deepened business system reforms. We combined the requirements for business licenses and administrative permits. We have also introduced the practice of unified business licenses with the unified social credit code. All these have tremendously unleashed the creativity and entrepreneurial enthusiasm of our people. Now, on a daily basis, as many as 30,000 new market entities get registered. We will press ahead with this reform in various respects, for example, there are still too many requirements for certificates and various permits, and this year our goal is to further cut the number of such certificate requirements by half.
For government documents without solid legal grounds, and that have held back the entrepreneurship of the people, or even hurt their rights and interests, they will all be cleaned up, or abrogated. But to delegate powers does not mean the government will be hands off. Instead, it needs to do a better job in ensuring a level playing field, and it also need to redress such malpractice as arbitrary regulation. We hope that throughout this process, we will further boost this productivity, and bring more benefits to the people. So the government will provide better services to the people to ensure that they can get things done with greater ease.
China-Japan-ROK leaders' meeting
Japan's Nikkei Business Daily: I have a question about the meeting of leaders from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. Last year this trilateral leaders' meeting was resumed in Seoul, in the ROK, and this year Japan is the host of the trilateral leaders' meeting. We believe that there are many areas where the three countries can work with each other, for example, in addressing the DPRK nuclear issue and in pursuing the free-trade agreement involving the three countries. So my question is what are your expectations for the trilateral leaders' meeting this year? And in order to attend this meeting, you will for the first time go to Japan in your current capacity. Some experts also believe that Japanese companies can play a big role in helping China achieve economic transformation. So I want to ask for your prospective on the economic complementarity between China and Japan?
Li Keqiang: Last year I went to the ROK and attended the trilateral leaders' meeting. This meeting should have been an annual event, however, it was only resumed last year after a three-year hiatus, and this has not come easily. As to whether the format will enjoy smooth development in the future, it's very much up to the interactions among the three countries. In particular, there has been some signs of improvement of Sino-Japanese ties, but it is not fully established yet and it is still fragile. We believe that it is important to adhere to the consensus reached between the two sides on the issue of principle involving history, and it is important to match one's words with concrete actions. What I don't want to see is another disruption in the holding of such a meeting.
Talking about the relationship among China, Japan and the ROK, I cannot help but recalling a lighthearted topic. That is the recent match between the ROK champion and AlphaGo, the match between human and computer. It has become a very hot topic in all the three countries, I think that shows in a way that there is much commonality culturally among the three countries. I have no intention to comment on the results of the match here, but I believe, despite win or lose, after all this machine, AlphaGo, is designed and made by humans. I also believe that the three countries, or between China and Japan, can have wisdom in boosting smart manufacturing and science and technologies to develop high quality products that can better meet consumer needs. The economy of the three countries accounts for one-fifth of the global total and 70 percent of the Asian total. I believe there are many complementarities among us and if we can leverage these complementarities, we can do even better in global markets.
More Q&As:
Q&A Transcription: National portability of medical insurance
Q&A: Pension benefits payments
