3) We will reduce commodity housing stock in a well-ordered way. In carrying out reform of the housing system, we will focus on meeting the demand of new urban residents by appropriately lowering transaction costs, encouraging rural migrant workers to purchase homes in small and medium-sized cities, and implementing policies to provide incentives for first-time home buyers. In order to develop the housing rental market, we will encourage both individuals and investors from various types of institutions to purchase commodity housing stock so as to increase the supply of rental housing. We will expand the use of direct monetary housing subsidies for people displaced by the rebuilding of run-down areas and other housing requisition projects, and also provide subsidies for people living in public rental housing. We will ensure efficient use of the housing provident fund, and gradually allow self-employed people and rural migrant workers, who have adequate financial resources, to participate in the housing provident fund scheme on a voluntary basis.
4) We will work to strengthen points of weakness. In a bid to win the battle against poverty, we will integrate the task of poverty alleviation with the tasks of increasing effective supply and addressing overcapacity. We will support the upgrading of equipment and technology in enterprises. We will see to it that manufacturing becomes higher-end, smarter, more eco-friendly, and better able to provide services; and with the aim of fostering and developing emerging industries, we will use measures such as injecting capital into the investment fund for advanced manufacturing, making equity investments, and subsidizing investment to finance the implementation of a number of demonstration programs that are project-oriented and industry-specific. We will also work to reinforce points of weakness in our hard and soft infrastructure. With the focus on developing integrated transportation hubs, we will step up efforts to extend water, power, and gas supply networks and roads to every "last kilometer" in rural areas; develop next-generation information infrastructure, new-energy vehicle facilities, urban underground pipeline networks, gas storage facilities, intercity transportation infrastructure, and urban and rural logistics networks; and promote ecological protection and environmental improvement. We will promote integrated development of transportation and logistics infrastructure so as to improve their overall efficiency and returns. We will comprehensively develop education, speed up efforts to promote education in the central and western regions, and strengthen training for rural migrant workers, commercial farmers, former military personnel, laid-off workers, and the unemployed. We will protect and restore mountain, water, forest, and farmland ecosystems, step up environmental governance efforts, reform the foundational systems for environmental governance, increase our capacity to conserve ecosystems and improve the environment, and build ecological security shields.
5) We will guard against and defuse financial and other risks. In order to keep the economy operating within an appropriate range and ensure the continuity and stability of development, we will improve the monitoring and early-warning system for economic performance, conduct preparatory research to maintain policy options for different eventualities, create new methods of macro regulation and improve existing ones, and increase our capacity for predicting and guarding against risks. We will strengthen the system for macro-prudential financial regulation, comprehensively oversee and regulate systemically important financial institutions, financial holding companies, and key financial infrastructures. We will set up sound anticipatory mechanisms for monitoring, assessing, and responding to financial risks, and improve contingency plans for handling the risks in the stock market, foreign exchange market, and bond market as well as the mechanism for financial institutions exiting the market. We will support banks in writing off nonperforming loans and systematically reduce credit default risks. We will regulate all financing activities; launch a campaign to address risks related to Internet finance; crack down harder on financial fraud and illegal fundraising; and work to ensure that no systemic or regional financial risks occur. To ease the imbalance between revenue and expenditures, we will better regulate the ceilings imposed on local government debt, improve budgetary management, and advance the systems for giving early warning against risks and for the assessment and oversight of debt. We will also improve the unified management of government debt and the way in which local government bonds are issued. We will increase support for the real economy, and prevent the aggravation and spread of debt chains and broken chains of funding among enterprises. We will implement policies to support enterprises in keeping employment stable, subsidize enterprises' contribution to social insurance premiums, and reduce taxes and fees, while also increasing support for reemployment. We will improve and innovate social governance and intensify efforts to identify, mediate, and defuse social conflicts so as to ensure social harmony and stability.
2. Tapping the potential of domestic demand with new ideas and measures
We will effectively promote both the fundamental role of consumer spending and the key role of investment in stimulating growth and further consolidate the foundation of domestic demand, thereby ensuring that the economy operates within an appropriate range.
1) We will promote consumer spending in new areas and guide new forms of supply to create new drivers of growth. In keeping pace with the upgrading of the private consumption mix, we will work to promote innovation in supply, thereby accelerating the formation of a pattern of positive interaction between consumption and supply and of coordination between the upgrade in demand and the upgrade in industry. Total retail sales of consumer goods are expected to increase by around 11% in 2016.
First, we will use all possible measures to enhance people's ability to consume. We will work to increase the incomes of low- and middle-income groups. We will implement an income distribution policy that is conducive to the commoditization and application of scientific and technological advances. We will improve the mechanism for stimulating the growth of rural income, and explore ways to improve the mechanism for distributing revenues from the appreciation in land values between collectives and the state.
Second, we will nurture and expand new areas of consumer spending. We will keep housing, vehicle, and other major consumption stable. We will boost broadband speeds, lower rates for Internet services, and speed up efforts to combine online-offline activities, while also working to expand consumption in areas such as wearable devices, smart homes, and digital media. We will develop new forms of consumption in relation to services; effectively implement the system of paid vacations; develop rural tourism, tourism to sites of significance in early CPC history, ecological tourism, as well as travel for study; expand consumption by the elderly and the young in an orderly manner; and expand and guide cultural consumption. At the same time as we develop general aviation, cruise liners, yachts, and other emerging areas of consumption, we will also advocate green consumption that helps conserve resources and improve the environment. We will unleash the potential for consumption in rural areas.
Third, we will increase effective supply and unleash potential consumer demand. We will encourage and support local governments and enterprises in intensifying their efforts to extend broadband connectivity to rural villages, develop information infrastructure in small and medium-sized cities as well as civil space infrastructure, and promote the development of tourism infrastructure and public service facilities. We will support the development of cultural entertainment complexes in cities, and help open large stadiums and gymnasiums funded by nongovernmental investors to the public free of charge or at a lower price. We will provide more products and services related to health, household, elderly care, long-term care, and cultural and creative industries.
Fourth, we will improve the consumption environment. We will improve the level of standardization in all industries and improve the mechanism for protecting consumers' rights and interests. We will launch campaigns to improve the supply of consumer goods, and introduce a system of punitive damages against producers whose products do not meet quality standards. We will improve policies related to tariffs on consumer goods. We will implement the food safety strategy, and establish sound systems for food safety standards and for ensuring product traceability. We will improve drug quality. We will tighten oversight of prices and step up efforts to counter monopolistic pricing to safeguard fair market competition.
2) We will strengthen points of weakness, adjust the economic structure, and improve the performance of investment. While ensuring investment in key areas and for weak links, we will innovate the way in which government-managed funds are used, and use central government budgetary investment and special development funds to attract more investment from non-governmental sources. We will also intensify efforts to shore up weak spots and increase effective investment. Total fixed-asset investment is projected to increase by around 10.5% in 2016.
First, we will further improve the use of budgetary investment. Appropriation for investment in the central government budget this year is planned to be 500 billion yuan. This investment will mainly go toward government-subsidized housing; grain production and water conservancy; railway construction in the central and western regions; scientific and technological innovation; energy conservation, environmental protection, and ecological improvement; education, health, culture, and other social programs; as well as toward the development of old revolutionary base areas, ethnic minority areas, border areas, and poor areas.
Second, we will give full play to the leading role of special development funds. An appropriate amount of capital will be raised in a market-based manner for special development funds on a quarterly basis. We will encourage nongovernmental capital to increase in step with government development funds, so that government investment and credit funds can produce positive results together. Corporate bonds issuance will be expanded and the issuance of new-type corporate bonds will be encouraged, such as those for developing urban utility tunnels, parking lots, strategic emerging industries, and elderly care services, for building and upgrading power distribution grids, for supporting entrepreneurship and innovation incubators, and for launching eco-friendly initiatives.
Third, we will develop an investment plan on a rolling three-year basis. We will build up the number of government investment projects in reserve so that rolling groups of projects can be approved, launched, and completed one after another; such a continuous, rolling reserve mechanism will help to maintain a beneficial cycle of government investment.
