BEIJING, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese lawmakers Thursday discussed a series of reports on state grain safety and the implementation of the central budget, among others, which underlined both people's livelihoods and economic growth in the second half of the year.
In the second half, the government intends on "focusing on disaster relief in order to ensure the harvest, boost consumption capacity to keep a steady increase of domestic demands and strengthen inflation management to maintain prices..." said Zhang Ping, director of the National Development and Reform Commission, in his report on the implementation of the national economic and social development plan.
Zhang delivered the report Thursday to the 16th Session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC), a bimonthly session running from Aug. 23 to Aug. 28.
The government would also make greater efforts in emission reductions, speeding up the transformation of the economic growth mode and guaranteeing more public resources be devoted to improving people's livelihoods, according to the report.
China's GDP grew 11.1 percent in the first half year on year, Zhang added.
In a report on state grain safety, Zhang cited various problems such as a "widening gap between output and demand, limited water and land resources, inadequate water project infrastructures and weak technical support," among others.
Zhang said the country will strengthen policy and technical support for grain products, protect cultivated land and water resources and improve adjustments for the grain market in order to build a grain safety system with high efficiency and ample storage.
On behalf of the State Council, or Cabinet, Minister of Finance Xie Xuren also delivered a report on the implementation of the central budget during the first seven months of 2010.
According to Xie, from Jan. to July, the country's financial income surpassed 5.11 trillion yuan (751 billion U.S. dollars), up 25.7 percent year on year. The figure accounted for 69.2 percent of the budget.
Also, the country's financial expenditure reached 3.96 trillion yuan, up 16.9 percent year on year, accounting for 46.9 percent of the budget.
Xie said in the future the ministry would focus on promoting rural reform and development, deepening reforms on financial and tax policies and strengthening management of the financial budget.
In addition, Chen Zhili, vice chairwoman of the NPC Standing Committee, delivered a report on an inspection on the enforcement of the Cleaner Production Promotion Law.
The Law, enacted in 2002, seeks to promote cleaner production, increase the efficiency of the utilization of energy resources, and reduce pollutants.
Chen said some enterprises were not fully aware of the importance of cleaner production and obligations to follow the law were not fully implemented.
While calling for more advanced techniques to support cleaner production, the report urged the clarification of responsibilities of related departments in promoting the law.
Thursday's meeting was presided over by Wu Bangguo, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.
Reports on Wu's visits to France, Serbia and Switzerland, including his participation in the third World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Geneva, were also discussed during the meeting.