Northeast China’s Jilin province promised to improve its people’s standard of living in 2020, at a news conference held on on Jan 14 to explain its proposed measures.

Officials said that the improvements would be implemented across 36 items.

These involved help for impoverished people, senior people and children living in difficulty, increasing employment and improving public health conditions.

Officials said that as an example, the province would continue to increase basic financial security levels for people in difficulty and the standard annual minimum living guaranteed income would be not less than 4,000 yuan ($580.56) per person.

The province will continue to care for rural seniors. This year, it will support construction of 200 rural public welfare service centers and rural elderly care centers.

The province will increase assistance to children in difficulty, planning to provide money and supplies for 1,000 children in poverty, disability, or in the absence of family custody, to improve their living and learning conditions.

The province will help patients in difficulty, planning to offer free treatment for 1,200 cataract, hemophilia, tumor and other afflicted patients who are from impoverished families.

The province said it will also support university students who are from impoverished families, offering an average of 3,000 yuan to each of them.

In the education sector, the province will provide winter snow sports equipment (or alternative items) for 200 middle and primary schools, build vision health education facilities for 70 schools and provide special education equipment for 70 ordinary schools.

Officials said Jilin will also increase employment, accelerate medicine and healthcare system reforms, as well as strengthen public health and the prevention and control of major diseases.