Premier Li opens NPC with strong first report

WHAT TO DO IN 2014

-- The central government will cancel or delegate to lower-level governments another 200 administrative approvals at least.

-- The institutional reform of provincial, municipal and county governments will be finished this year and public institution reform continues.

-- Governments at all levels will be asked to publish their budgets and final accounts.

-- The trial of replacing business tax with VAT will be extended to railway, post and telecom services.

-- The central government will grant financial institutions more power to set their interest rates.

-- The government will promote the healthy development of Internet finance. >>

-- The government will allow non-state capital to take part in some projects in areas such as banking, oil, electricity, railway, telecommunications, resources development and public utilities. >>

-- The government pledges to protect property rights of both public and private sectors.

-- Total imports and exports are expected to grow at around 7.5 percent this year.

-- China will continue to negotiate investment agreements with the United States and the European Union, and speed up free trade area talks with the Republic of Korea, Australia and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

-- China will speed up 4G mobile network programs, build 100M fiber optic networks in cities and extend broadband connectivity to villages.

-- The central budget will invest 457.6 billion yuan mainly in government-subsidized housing, agriculture, major water conservancy projects, railway projects in the central and western regions, energy conservation, environmental protection and social programs.

-- More than 70 billion yuan in the central budget will go to major projects to divert water, protect water sources, harness rivers and lakes, and develop efficient water-saving irrigation.

-- The country will reduce outdated production capacity of 27 million metric tons of steel, 42 million metric tons of cement and 35 million standard containers of plate glass.

-- The number of rural students from poor areas enrolled in elite colleges and universities will increase by more than 10 percent.

-- The government will raise its subsidy for basic medical insurance for rural and unemployed urban residents to 320 yuan per person.

-- China will begin to build more than 7 million units of government-subsidized housing, 4.7 million of which will be in rundown urban areas. By the end of this year, 4.8 million units should be completed.

-- Air pollution control will focus on mega cities and regions troubled by smog.

-- This year, the government will shut down 50,000 small coal-fueled furnaces, as well as install desulphurization facilities in thermal power plants with the capacity of 15 million kw, denitrification facilities in plants with 130 million kw of production capacity, and dust control device on those with the 180-million-kw capacity. Six million old vehicles will be banned from the road.

-- Energy intensity will be cut by more than 3.9 percent. The emission of sulfur dioxide and chemical oxygen demand will drop by 2 percent.

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