2. Implementation of major expenditure items in the central budget
In compiling the budgets in early 2008, we implemented the relevant decisions and plans of the central leadership by improving the structure of expenditures to increase funding in key areas such as agriculture, rural areas, farmers, education, the social safety net, medical and health care, housing, independent innovation, energy and resource conservation, and protection of the ecosystem. All key expenditure items received guaranteed funding. In light of the objective requirements for economic and social development, surplus revenue and some reserve funds were primarily applied to increase spending on agriculture, education and disaster relief during the implementation of the budget (all expenditures on major items consist of funds actually spent by the central government and transfer payments granted to local governments).
1) Expenditures for agriculture, forestry and water conservancy totaled 182.174 billion yuan, an increase of 43.6% and equivalent to 125.6% of the target, with the large excess mainly due to the increase in agricultural subsidies during the implementation of the budget. A total of 16.34 billion yuan was spent to increase subsidies for planting superior crop varieties and purchasing agricultural machinery and tools, subsidize all rice producers in the country planting superior rice varieties, raise the level of subsidies for planting superior late rice varieties by more than 100%, increase acreages sown to superior wheat and corn seeds with government subsidies by 100% and 570% respectively, and extend subsidies for the purchase of agricultural machinery and tools to all agricultural counties across the country. Expenditures for developing agricultural infrastructure totaled 113.76 billion yuan and were mainly used to develop large and medium-sized reservoirs, harness major rivers, reinforce 2,505 dilapidated large and medium-sized and key small reservoirs, and provide safe drinking water for more than 48 million rural residents. A total of 12.7 billion yuan was spent for overall agricultural development to support the improvement of 1.67 million hectares of low and medium-yield farmland and increase overall grain production capacity by 2.866 million tons. The number of counties conducting soil testing to determine appropriate fertilizer formulas increased from 1,200 to 1,861. Trials to subsidize insurance premiums for crops were extended from 6 to 16 provincial-level administrative areas, and 75 million rural households are now covered. A total of 16.73 billion yuan was disbursed to alleviate poverty through development, focusing on developing infrastructure and industry in poor rural areas and providing job training for poor rural residents. The area of key public forests funded by the central government with the forest ecological conservation fund expanded to 46.67 million hectares.
2) Spending on education reached 159.854 billion yuan, a 48.5% gain and equivalent to 102.4% of the target. A total of 61.81 billion yuan went to making free compulsory education available in both urban and rural areas. We stopped collecting tuition and miscellaneous fees from all urban students receiving compulsory education starting last autumn, raised the level of funding for operating expenses for rural compulsory education, provided free textbooks required by the state to rural students receiving compulsory education, and raised the school heating subsidies for rural primary and secondary schools in northern China. A total of 5.31 billion yuan was used to step up development of new schools with improved sanitation facilities as part of the developing new countryside and construction of primary and secondary school buildings in the central and western regions and improve the living facilities in rural schools there. A total of 22.3 billion yuan was used to grant financial assistance to students from poor families at regular undergraduate institutions, vocational colleges and secondary vocational schools. Secondary vocational school students from poor urban families and rural areas received financial aid of 1,500 yuan per student a year, a policy benefiting 90% of the student population. We supported development of three groups of state-level demonstration vocational colleges totaling 100 schools, resulting in improvement in the quality of their teachers and operating conditions. A total of 43.243 billion yuan was spent to raise the quality of higher education and begin full-scale development of the third phase of the 211 Project for Higher Education.
3) Expenditures for medical and health care amounted to 82.68 billion yuan, a 24.5% growth and equivalent to 99.4% of the target. We established a new type of cooperative medical care system in all rural areas across the country, covering more than 800 million residents. We increased the number of pilot cities making basic medical insurance available to their non-working residents from 88 to 317, with the number of participating residents increasing from 42.91 million to over 100 million. The central government raised the level of financial aid to 40 yuan per person a year in the central and western regions, and granted a certain level of subsidies to the eastern region. These measures claimed expenditures totaling 27.868 billion yuan. Eight billion yuan was used to expand the basic medical insurance program for urban workers to include all retirees from state-owned enterprises subject to policy-mandated closure or bankruptcy in all localities of the country. We increased funding for public health in areas such as prevention and control of major diseases, as well as for oversight and supervision of food and drugs and development of traditional Chinese medicine, improved medical treatment procedures for public emergencies, stepped up public health and epidemic prevention efforts, and screened infants and pre-school children potentially exposed to melamine-tainted milk power free of charge. These measures claimed expenditures by the central government totaling 12.614 billion yuan. A total of 3.4 billion yuan went to increasing medical assistance in both urban and rural areas, and providing assistance for medical care for urban and rural residents receiving cost of living allowances and rural childless and infirm residents who receive subsidies to cover food, clothing, medical care, housing and burial expenses to enable them to obtain medical insurance and reduce the burden on them from medical expenditures. We spent 6.6 billion yuan to step up development of public health facilities in counties and townships and equip them with basic medical equipment. We expanded the area of the country covered by the policy granting allowances to rural women giving birth in hospitals so that it now covers the entire central and western regions, and the central government raised the allowances to 300 yuan per person for the central region and 400 yuan for the western region.
4) Expenditures for the social safety net and employment work reached 274.359 billion yuan, up 19.2% and equivalent to 99.3% of the target. A total of 36.31 billion yuan was used to improve all aspects of the cost of living allowance system for both urban and rural residents and raise the monthly allowances for urban dwellers by 15 yuan per person and for rural residents by 10 yuan per person on January 1 and again on July 1. The central government allocated 112.743 billion yuan in subsidies for old-age insurance to continue to increase basic old-age benefits for retirees from state-owned enterprises by 110 yuan per person a month, with the focus on the central and western regions and northeast China and other old industrial bases. Twenty billion yuan was spent to support policy-mandated closures or bankruptcies of 80 state-owned enterprises and provide for 320,000 of their laid-off employees. The central government spent 25.208 billion yuan to support the implementation of policies to secure employment for people experiencing difficulty in finding employment by granting them subsidies for subscribing to social security and working in low-paying public service positions. We improved the policies on charges and fees and on guaranteed small loans to encourage business startups in order to expand employment.
5) Expenditures to develop low-income housing totaled 18.19 billion yuan, an increase of 114.3%. More families were made eligible for low-rent housing and rent subsidies for such housing became available to more people. We made steady progress in renovating shantytowns (old and dilapidated housing). A total of 2.95 million low-income urban families across the country benefited from the low-rent housing program. This included 2.29 million families enjoying rent subsidies, 260,000 households renting government-managed housing, and 340,000 families paying discounted rent.