The second session of the 14th National People's Congress will hold a press conference at 3 p.m. on March 6, 2024 (Wednesday) in the press release hall of the Medea Center. Zheng Jiejie, Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, Lan Fo'an, Minister of Finance, Wang Wentao, Minister of Commerce, Pan Gongsheng, President of the People's Bank of China, and Wu Qing, Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission answered questions from Chinese and foreign journalists on development and reform, financial budget, commerce, financial securities, and other related issues.

Jin Qingzhong, Director of the Information Bureau of the General Office of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress:

Hello, media friends! Welcome to the press conference of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress, which is an economic theme press conference. The News Center of the Conference is pleased to invite five guests to attend today's press conference and answer your questions. The five guests were: Mr. Zheng Zhajie, Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, Mr. Lan Fo'an, Minister of Finance, Mr. Wang Wentao, Minister of Commerce, Mr. Pan Gongsheng, President of the People's Bank of China, and Mr. Wu Qing, Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. thank you.

Now, please go ahead and ask questions.

Reporter of American Consumer News and Business Channel:

My question is addressed to Director Zheng Jiejie. The government work report sets the expected target of China's economic growth this year at about 5%, while some international institutions predict it at about 4.5%. How do you view China's economic situation? What are the main driving forces supporting China's economy to achieve growth goals? Can they offset the negative factors hindering growth?

Zheng Zhajie, Director of the National Development and Reform Commission:

Thank you for your question. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank friends from the media for their attention and support to the National Development and Reform Commission. China's economy has been highly concerned by all parties, and different international institutions have put forward different views from their own perspectives. Taking about 5% as the expected target of China's economic growth this year is proposed by the Party Central Committee and the State Council on the basis of comprehensive balance, taking into account the current and long-term needs and possibilities, and is scientifically demonstrated. This goal is in line with the annual requirements of the 14th Five Year Plan and basically matches the potential of economic growth.

You are concerned about the economic situation this year. The situation should be based on both "shape" and "trend". Here I would like to talk about some views from the perspectives of "shape" and "trend".

First, look at the "shape". The main expected goals of China's economic development in 2023 have been successfully completed, and the characteristics of "stability", "progress" and "good" are prominent. It can be seen from the "three new".

The first "new" is that from the perspective of aggregate indicators, the economic recovery has achieved new results. In terms of economic growth, last year's growth was low, medium high and stable, with an annual growth of 5.2%, 2.2 percentage points higher than the previous year. In terms of employment, the urban unemployment rate was 5.2%, down 0.4 percentage points from the previous year. In terms of balance of payments, the scale of foreign exchange reserves at the end of the year was $3.24 trillion, an increase of $110.3 billion over the end of the previous year.

The second "new" is that from the perspective of structural indicators, new progress has been made in economic restructuring. Investment in high-tech manufacturing increased by 9.9%, 3.4 percentage points higher than the overall investment growth in manufacturing. Investment in high-tech service industry increased by 11.4%, 11 percentage points higher than the overall investment growth in the service industry. The added value of the service industry increased by 5.8%, 0.6 percentage points higher than the economic growth.

The third "new" is that from the perspective of quality indicators, the quality of economic development has been improved. In terms of scientific and technological innovation, the R&D investment reached 3.3 trillion yuan, with an intensity of 2.64%, 0.08 percentage points higher than that of the previous year. At the same time, major innovation achievements continued to emerge. In terms of new momentum, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China last year reached 9.5 million, with a growth rate of more than 35%; Lithium battery production increased by 25%; The output of photovoltaic cells increased by 54%; The export of the "new three types" increased by nearly 30%, including more than 1.2 million new energy vehicles, an increase of 77.6%. The export volume ranked first in the world, driving the number of new car exports to rank first in the world. In terms of ecological environment, the discharge of major pollutants continued to decline, and the quality of ecological environment improved steadily. In terms of security and development, economic security has been effectively guaranteed, and the impact of disasters such as "rotten rain" and floods has been effectively overcome. By expanding the area and increasing the per unit yield, the grain output has reached a new record high of 1.39 trillion kg, and risk prevention and resolution in key areas has been steadily promoted.

Second, look at the "trend". In 2024, the favorable conditions for China's economic development will be stronger than the unfavorable factors, and the economic recovery will be further consolidated and strengthened. We have strong support from both the short cycle and the long cycle of economic development, which can be seen from four aspects.

First, the foundation for development is more solid. A new development pattern is taking shape at an accelerated pace. The size of China's economy has exceeded 126 trillion yuan. We have a super large market. The further coordinated development of urban and rural areas and regions has also brought huge market potential and development potential. We will also continue to improve and enhance the business environment, and continue to expand the high-level opening up, which is not only conducive to further opening up the domestic circulation, but also conducive to promoting the domestic and international double circulation, which not only provides many development opportunities for domestic investors, but also provides a huge amount of business opportunities for discerning multinational enterprises and international capital. High quality development is being comprehensively promoted. China has a complete industrial system, abundant high-quality human resources, more perfect software and hardware infrastructure network, rapid improvement of innovation ability, rapid formation and growth of new drivers, and sustained improvement of economic resilience and resilience. Deepen reform in an all-round way, and the vitality of the endogenous driving force for development has been constantly enhanced. All these have laid a solid foundation for consolidating the economic recovery trend in the short term and further strengthening the long-term development.

Second, macro policies continue to strengthen. On the basis of strengthening the implementation of macro policies last year and systematically playing a "combination punch", this year we will further strengthen regulation, strengthen the overall coordination of fiscal, monetary, employment, industrial, regional and other policies, form a joint force through comprehensive implementation, and continue to make efforts in strengthening entities, promoting consumption, expanding investment, stabilizing foreign trade, etc, The incremental policies such as promoting large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods trade in, issuing and using ultra long term special national debt, and the policy effects such as additional issuance of national debt, interest rate and reserve ratio cuts, tax and fee cuts implemented in the early stage continue to play a role, all of which will provide a strong macro regulation policy supply for steady economic development.

Third, local development has become more active and promising. Before the Spring Festival, 31 provinces, autonomous regions and cities across the country held the "Two Sessions". We sorted out the expected economic development goals of each region this year. The expected economic growth goals of 25 provinces were higher than the actual growth of last year, and 23 provinces were higher than the national level. The whole country focuses on high-quality development, and the entrepreneurial enthusiasm and initiative of the officers are constantly increasing.

Fourth, positive factors are accumulating. Since the beginning of the year, China's economy has continued to pick up. Leading indicators such as physical quantity grew rapidly. In the first two months, the national unified power generation increased by 11.7% year on year, and the industrial power consumption increased by 9.7%. The consumption of culture, tourism and catering is booming. The number of domestic tourist trips during the Spring Festival holiday increased by 34.3% year on year and 19% compared with the same period in 2019 on a comparable basis. In February, the expected production and operation activity index of manufacturing enterprises was 54.2%, and the expected non manufacturing business activity index was 57.7%, which remained in the expansion range. Based on comprehensive analysis, the first quarter is expected to achieve a good start.

Of course, we are also soberly aware that in the process of achieving the expected goals, we will still face many difficulties and challenges, such as the external environment may become more complex and severe, there are still some outstanding problems in the construction of the national unified market, the competition in some industries is extremely fierce, some enterprises face difficulties in production and operation, and there are still risks and hidden dangers in some fields. These problems are all problems in the process of progress and can be solved in the process of development. We firmly believe that under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, and with the joint efforts of all regions, departments, and various business entities, we have the confidence, ability, conditions, and confidence to promote the sustained recovery of the economy, long-term improvement, and high-quality completion of the year's economic and social development goals and tasks. thank you.

CCTV reporter from China Central Radio and Television Corporation:

My question also wants to be addressed to Zheng Jiejie, Director of the National Development and Reform Commission. Director Zheng, we know that the government work report points out that this year we will issue super long term special national debt, which is specially used for the implementation of major national strategies and security capacity building in key areas. So I would like to ask Director Zheng, what are the main reasons for the introduction of this policy? In addition, how will the next policy be effective? What other important measures do we have in terms of increasing effective investment this year? I also want you to introduce. thank you.

Zheng Zhajie:

Thank you for your question. Your question has been a hot topic these two days, and everyone is very concerned about it. The issuance and use of ultra long term special treasury bonds is a major policy measure, and expanding effective investment is an important task.

Let me first introduce the issuance and use of ultra long term special treasury bonds.

Starting this year, we will issue extra long term special treasury bonds in the next few years, which will be specially used for the implementation of major national strategies and the building of security capacity in key areas. It is a major strategic decision made by the Party Central Committee and the State Council with an eye to the overall strategy of building a strong country and national rejuvenation, which will benefit both the current and the long-term. In other words, it can not only stimulate current investment and consumption, but also lay the foundation for long-term high-quality development. We can analyze it from three aspects.

First, from the background of the introduction, this is an inevitable requirement to respond to profound changes in the international environment and firmly grasp the development initiative, as well as a practical need to coordinate development and security and firmly promote high-quality development. We need to concentrate our efforts, increase our efforts, and continue to work hard for a long time to lay a solid foundation for accelerating Chinese style modernization and achieving the second centennial goal on schedule.

Second, from the perspective of main investment orientation, we should focus on the major issues and difficulties in the process of building a strong country and national rejuvenation in accordance with the principles of problem orientation, precise breakthrough, system integration, and synergy and efficiency. Preliminary consideration will focus on supporting scientific and technological innovation, integrated urban and rural development, coordinated regional development, food and energy security, high-quality population development and other fields. The potential construction demand in these areas is huge and the investment cycle is long. The existing funding channels cannot fully meet the requirements, so it is urgent to increase support.

Third, from the perspective of work arrangement, the National Development and Reform Commission is working with relevant parties to formulate and form specific action plans, which will be implemented after being submitted for approval according to procedures. We will use reform methods and market-oriented measures to coordinate hard investment and soft system construction. On the one hand, we will focus on the construction of key projects, strengthen the supervision of projects and funds, on the other hand, we will promote the introduction and implementation of supporting policies, strengthen the tracking and implementation of policies, and high-quality promote the effectiveness of this major measure.

On your second question, the important measures to expand effective investment are described in the Government Work Report and the plan report. To sum up, it is necessary to expand effective investment. The key points are "expansion" and "efficiency". To this end, we will "improve quality" and "expand capacity" at the same time, highlighting three aspects of work.

First, give full play to the amplification effect of government investment. In addition to the ultra long term special treasury bonds just mentioned, the investment in the central budget and the new local government special bonds this year have increased compared with last year. Most of the additional treasury bonds issued last year have also been used this year, and the government investment scale has increased significantly compared with last year. We will make good use of all kinds of funds and give better play to the guiding and leading role of government investment. For example, we will give play to the role of investment and loan linkage mechanism and guide financial institutions to increase financing support; For another example, in terms of the investment direction of special bonds, the scope of project capital funds can be expanded to further amplify the driving effect of special bonds.

Second, encourage and support the expansion of private investment. Private investment accounts for more than 50% of the total investment. It is important and critical to give full play to the role of private investment. We will guide local governments to implement the new mechanism of cooperation between government and social capital, and we will do our utmost to encourage and support private enterprises to participate in the construction of national major engineering projects and projects to remedy weaknesses. At the same time, we will continue to promote high-quality projects to private capital, make good use of the national financing credit service platform, and strengthen the financing of key projects and factor guarantee.

Third, further improve investment efficiency. The key is to achieve "three more". The investment direction should be more precise, and more support should be given to complement weaknesses, strengths and weaknesses, and cultivate new drivers; Element allocation should be more efficient, so that land, energy and other elements follow good projects; The investment environment should be more convenient. We should carry out in-depth remediation of outstanding problems in key areas of national unified market construction, deepen the reform of the investment and financing system, optimize the business environment, and support more efficient investment with greater market space and lower investment costs. thank you.

Xinhua News Agency:

My question was addressed to Minister Lan. This year's government work report makes plans for implementing a proactive fiscal policy. What are the new features of the fiscal policy in 2024? thank you.

Lan Fo'an, Minister of Finance:

Thank you for your question. I would like to take this opportunity to thank media friends for their long-term attention to the "national ledger". On this question, the Prime Minister made clear the relevant deployment arrangements in his government work report yesterday morning. In the past two days, everyone has paid more attention to the positive fiscal policy.

Scientific and effective macro-control is an important guarantee for the steady and healthy development of the economy and society. The CPC Central Committee has decided to strengthen counter cyclical and cross cyclical adjustment of macro policies in 2024, and continue to implement proactive fiscal policies and prudent monetary policies; The proactive fiscal policy should be moderately strengthened and improved in quality and efficiency. This is a major decision and deployment made by the CPC Central Committee from a strategic and overall perspective, considering the situation and taking comprehensive consideration. This arrangement not only anchor high-quality development, the primary task of building a socialist modern country in an all-round way, but also fully consider the opportunities and challenges facing the current economic development; It is correct and necessary to maintain the continuity and stability of macro policies and appropriately strengthen the timely and precise regulation. On this basis, the government work report further makes comprehensive arrangements and deployment for the implementation of positive fiscal policies, and the financial department will earnestly implement them.

Moderate strengthening, quality improvement and efficiency increase are the keynote and characteristics of this year's fiscal policy. How to understand them specifically?

Moderate efforts are mainly to make overall use of various fiscal policy tools, appropriately expand the scale of fiscal expenditure, implement preferential tax policies, and promote high-quality development. It can be grasped from three aspects:

First, the intensity of fiscal expenditure has generally expanded. This year's deficit ratio will be 3%, and will remain at a high level, reaching 4.06 trillion yuan. At the same time, we coordinated various financial resources and increased the intensity of expenditure. The national general public budget expenditure reached 28.5 trillion yuan, an increase of more than 1 trillion yuan over the previous year. We strengthened financial support for major national strategic tasks and continued to promote the effective improvement of the quality and reasonable growth of the economy.

Second, the scale of government bonds has increased significantly. A total of 3.9 trillion yuan of special local government bonds and 1 trillion yuan of extra long term special government bonds were issued, bringing the total to 4.9 trillion yuan. In addition, most of the additional 1 trillion yuan of national debt issued in the fourth quarter of 2023 will be used this year. These are all solid government expenditures, which can drive and expand effective social investment, better support key areas to forge strengths and remedy weaknesses, activate the momentum of economic development, and promote high-quality development and economic transformation and upgrading.

Third, we will continue to implement structural tax and fee reduction policies. On the basis of implementing the preferential tax policies that were continued and optimized last year, we will study and introduce targeted structural tax and fee reduction policies this year, focus on supporting scientific and technological innovation and manufacturing development, and better serve the construction of a modern industrial system.

Improving quality and efficiency is mainly to optimize financial management, strengthen policy coordination, and improve the quality and efficiency of financial policies.

From the perspective of financial management, it is necessary to adhere to internal potential tapping and seek efficiency from management. We will implement the requirements of tightening the budget, optimize the structure of fiscal expenditure, and spend every penny on the cutting edge. Strengthen budget performance management and improve the efficiency of financial funds. We will strictly enforce financial discipline and resolutely prevent the "leakage" of financial funds.

From the perspective of policy coordination, it is necessary to strengthen overall coordination and amplify the combination effect. We will make overall use of tax, special funds, government bonds and other policy tools, strengthen coordination and cooperation with monetary, employment, industry and other policies, play a good "combination", avoid "one-on-one", and promote policy resonance with the same frequency.

In a word, the financial department will implement positive fiscal policies in accordance with the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and consolidate and enhance the economic recovery trend with tangible results.

thank you.

Shell Finance Reporter of Beijing News:

What I want to ask is Minister Wang Wentao of the Ministry of Commerce. Hello, the contribution rate of consumption to China's economic growth will reach 82.5% in 2023. What measures will the Ministry of Commerce take to expand consumption and stimulate potential consumption in the new year? thank you.

Wang Wentao, Minister of Commerce:

Thank you for your question. As you mentioned in your question just now, consumption contributed 82.5% to economic growth last year. Last year, China's consumer market should be said to have recovered steadily on the whole. The total retail sales of consumer goods in the whole year reached 47.1 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.2% year on year. Especially this Spring Festival, you may have noticed that according to our business big data monitoring, the sales of national key retail and catering enterprises increased by 8.5% year on year, and the passenger flow and turnover of the demonstration pedestrian street increased by 32.9% and 36.1% year on year. As many people say, the Spring Festival is a time of great prosperity. It was also noted that during the Spring Festival, the Ministry of Commerce, together with five departments, carried out the "National Online New Year's Day" activity to facilitate people to celebrate the New Year not only offline but also online. Some Chinese fashion goods, clothing and jewelry have been popular, and online sales have more than doubled. The online New Year Festival has been held for 4 consecutive years, and has become a brand event with strong flavor and popular with consumers. This is also the first of a series of activities we will hold this year, the "Year of Consumption Promotion". Next, we will highlight key categories and festival seasons, guide various regions to carry out a variety of "consumption promotion year" series of characteristic activities, and continue to release consumption potential.

To promote consumption this year, we may also pay attention to the two key tasks we need to do. I will also introduce them here. One is to promote the trade in of old consumer goods such as automobiles, household appliances, home decoration, kitchen and bathroom, and the other is to boost service consumption. First, let's talk about the trade in of consumer goods. China's automobile, home appliances and home decoration markets are large in overall size. A considerable number of products have long service life and high energy consumption emissions. Some of them have certain potential safety hazards due to long-term use. It should be said that the potential update demand has entered the centralized release period. For example, there are more than 16 million passenger cars with emission standards in the third country and below, of which more than 7 million are over 15 years old; On average, about 270 million household appliances per year exceed the safe service life by standards. Promoting the exchange of old for new consumer goods is not only a powerful measure to strengthen the current economic growth momentum, consolidate the recovery, but also a long-term strategy to promote high-quality development. Of course, I would like to emphasize that trade in is based on the willingness of consumers.

For this work, General Secretary Xi Jinping made an important deployment at the fourth meeting of the Central Finance and Economic Commission. Last week, the executive meeting of the State Council reviewed and approved the work plan, and we will earnestly implement it. The overall idea is to adhere to the principle of market orientation, fully mobilize the enthusiasm of all parties through policy support and guidance, and form an effective mechanism of "easier to get rid of the old and more willing to replace the new".

Second, let's introduce the expansion of service consumption. In recent years, China's service consumption has developed rapidly. From 2013 to 2023, the per capita service consumption expenditure of residents has increased from 39.7% to 45.2%, an increase of 5.5 percentage points. In the future, the space and potential for service consumption will be huge. Next, we will work with relevant departments to promote service consumption from three aspects. First, strengthen overall planning and build a "1+N" work system. The so-called "1" is to formulate comprehensive documents as a whole and define the objectives, tasks and key measures for expanding service consumption in the future. The so-called "N" refers to the introduction of "N" policy documents and specific measures in terms of industry promotion, policy support, factor guarantee, environmental optimization, etc. around several different fields. Second, expand the opening of the service sector and enrich the supply of service consumption. We will ease market access in telecommunications, medical care and other service industries, make good use of both domestic and foreign markets and resources, and continue to expand service supply. Third, build platform carriers and innovate service consumption scenarios. Carry out a series of activities such as "service consumption season" and "Chinese food fair" to promote the integrated development of business, travel, sports, health and other forms of business, so as to better meet the personalized, diversified and high-quality service consumption needs of the masses. thank you.

People's Daily:

I'd like to ask Mr. Pan Gongsheng, President of the People's Bank of China. Since the beginning of this year, both the reduction of reserve ratio and the decline of loan interest rate have exceeded market expectations. In the next stage, how will monetary policy support the economic recovery? thank you.

Pan Gongsheng, President of the People's Bank of China:

Thank you for your question. For a long time, the People's Bank of China has maintained good communication and interaction with friends in the media with an open and professional attitude. I would also like to thank friends in the media for their attention, supervision and support to the work of the Central Bank.

The trend of China's monetary policy has always been a matter of great concern. At the new press conference held by the State Council in January, I had an exchange with friends of journalists on this issue. I would like to take this opportunity today to further clarify the position and views of the Central Bank on monetary policy.

As for the operation of China's macro-economy, Director Zheng Zhajie of the National Development and Reform Commission has just made it very clear that China's economy is recovering and high-quality development is steadily advancing, but the situation at home and abroad is still complex and changeable, so we need to give full play to the joint forces of policies and increase the strength of macro-control policies. China's monetary policy toolbox is still rich, and there is still enough room for monetary policy. In the regulation of monetary policy, we will pay more attention to balancing the relationship between short-term and long-term, stable growth and risk prevention, internal balance and external balance, strengthen counter cyclical and cross cyclical adjustment, focus on boosting confidence, stabilizing expectations, stabilizing prices, and create a good monetary and financial environment for economic operation and development. There are several considerations:

The first is to maintain a reasonable growth in the total volume. Last year, the People's Bank of China lowered the deposit reserve ratio twice, each time by 0.25 percentage points; On February 5 this year, we reduced the deposit reserve ratio by another 0.5 percentage point, which is a one-time release of 1 trillion yuan of long-term liquidity. At present, the deposit reserve ratio of the entire Chinese banking industry is 7% on average, and there is still room to reduce it later. We will comprehensively use a variety of monetary policy tools, increase counter cyclical adjustment efforts, maintain reasonable and sufficient liquidity, support the stable growth and balanced supply of social financing scale and total amount of money and credit, and achieve the matching of social financing scale and broad money supply with the expected goals of economic growth and price level.

Second, in terms of price, we will continue to push the cost of social comprehensive financing down steadily. In 2023, we will cut interest rates twice, and lower the interest rate of existing mortgage loans, guide major banks to cut deposit interest rates, and in February this year, guide the market quoted interest rate of loans over five years to reduce by 0.25 percentage points. As we all know, the quoted interest rate for loans with a term of more than five years is the benchmark for pricing loans for personal mortgages and medium - and long-term investments, which will strongly promote the reduction of social financing costs and support investment and consumption. We will take maintaining price stability and promoting a moderate price recovery as an important consideration of monetary policy, make overall plans for the health of the banking balance sheet, and continue to promote the steady and moderate decline of social comprehensive financing costs.

Third, we should pay more attention to improving efficiency in structure. We will further improve the effectiveness of monetary policy in promoting economic restructuring, transformation and upgrading, and the conversion of old and new drivers of growth. We will set up re loans for scientific and technological innovation and technological transformation, continue to implement re loans to support carbon emission reduction, give full play to the incentive and driving role of structural monetary policy tools, guide financial institutions to scientifically assess risks, restrict the financing supply for industries with excess capacity, and more specifically meet reasonable consumption financing needs. Revitalize the stock financial resources and focus on improving the efficiency of capital use.

Fourth, we will maintain a basically stable exchange rate at a reasonable and balanced level. Over the past period, we have adhered to market supply and demand as the basis, adopted a series of macro prudential management measures, and maintained the basic stability of the RMB exchange rate under complex circumstances. This year, the monetary policy of major economies is expected to change, and the momentum of the dollar index will weaken. Notice that in the past few days, the dollar index has dropped from 104 last week to around 103 these two days, and the cyclical difference between domestic and foreign monetary policies tends to converge. The fundamentals of China's economy continued to pick up, and the participants in the foreign exchange market became more mature. More and more business entities used exchange rate hedging tools and RMB for cross-border settlement. By February, nearly 30% of all cross-border trade settlements of goods in China were settled in RMB. The combined effect of these factors will objectively help to enhance the operational space of China's monetary policy, help to balance cross-border capital flows and maintain the basic stability of the RMB exchange rate.

In the spirit of professionalism and pragmatism, the People's Bank of China will implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council. The prudent monetary policy should be flexible, appropriate, accurate and effective, adhere to the fundamental purpose of serving the real economy, increase macro-control efforts, strengthen the dual regulation of total volume and structure, consolidate and enhance the economic recovery trend, and continue to promote high-quality development. thank you.

Surging journalists:

My question was addressed to Director Zheng of the National Development and Reform Commission. Director Zheng, China has made arrangements for large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods trade in. What measures will the National Development and Reform Commission take to promote this work? thank you.

Zheng Zhajie:

Thank you for your question. Promoting large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods replacement with old ones is a major deployment made by the Party Central Committee and the State Council with a view to high-quality development. It can not only promote consumption and investment, but also increase advanced production capacity, improve production efficiency, promote energy conservation and carbon reduction, reduce security risks, and benefit both the people and enterprises. This is a major benefit. Take equipment as an example. Last year, China's investment in equipment in key fields such as industry and agriculture was about 4.9 trillion yuan. With the in-depth promotion of high-quality development, the demand for equipment renewal will continue to expand. It is preliminarily estimated that it will be a huge market with an annual scale of more than 5 trillion yuan. Looking at durable consumer goods, at the end of last year, China's civil car ownership reached 336 million, and the number of household appliances in major categories such as refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners exceeded 3 billion. The upgrading of cars and household appliances can also create a market space of trillion yuan. The huge market space has brought huge development opportunities and is promising.

According to the decision and deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, the National Development and Reform Commission, together with relevant departments, has recently studied and formulated the Action Plan for Promoting Large scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Trade in, focusing on the implementation of the "four major actions" of equipment renewal, consumer goods trade in, recycling, and standards upgrading.

First, implement the equipment update action. The focus will be on 7 fields, including industry, agriculture, construction, transportation, education, culture and tourism, and medical care. There is a huge demand for equipment upgrading in these fields. Taking industry as an example, China is a big manufacturing country, with many equipment holdings ranking first in the world. By the end of last year, the assets of industrial enterprises above designated size had exceeded 160 trillion yuan. With the deepening of new industrialization, the demand for advanced equipment is still growing. We will focus on energy conservation and carbon reduction, ultra-low emissions, safe production, digital transformation, intelligent upgrading and other directions, Promote the renewal and transformation of equipment in key industries. At the same time, we will combine the promotion of urban renewal and the transformation of old residential areas, promote the equipment renewal of buildings and municipal infrastructure by category, support the renewal of transportation equipment and old agricultural machinery, promote the renewal and upgrading of equipment in education, culture and tourism, medical care and other fields, and drive the production and application of more advanced equipment.

Second, implement the action of trade in consumer goods. As mentioned earlier, China has a huge inventory of durable consumer goods such as automobiles and household appliances. The masses are also increasingly demanding higher quality, smarter, greener and more personalized consumer goods, and there is a great demand for updating every year. We will carry out trade in of cars, household appliances, household appliances and other durable consumer goods, eliminate old cars that meet the mandatory scrapping standards according to law and regulations, encourage and support consumers to buy energy-saving household appliances in exchange for old household appliances, and vigorously support the promotion of home-based aging transformation.

Third, implement recycling action. Scrap is a misplaced resource. Take steel as an example. Last year, China recycled about 260 million tons of scrap iron, ensuring more than 20% of crude steel production needs. We need to strengthen recycling, which is of great significance for promoting the green transformation of the development mode and enhancing the ability to ensure resource security. We will implement the comprehensive saving strategy, establish and improve the recycling system, strengthen the development of new models such as "renewal+recycling", and unblock the resource recycling chain.

Fourth, implement the standard improvement action. Standards are an important traction for industry development and product upgrading. To promote the renewal of large-scale equipment and the replacement of consumer goods with old ones, we should make good use of the "baton" of standards. We will benchmark the international advanced level, combine the actual industrial development, consider the affordability of enterprises and consumer acceptance as a whole, and give play to the traction role of energy conservation and carbon reduction, environmental protection, safety, recycling and other standards. The formulation of this formulation and the revision of this revision will promote more Chinese products and equipment to high-end, intelligent, and green development.

It is a systematic project to promote large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods trade in. To do this well, we need to do a good job in policy combination. We will work with relevant parties to increase policy support in finance, finance, taxation, etc., strengthen the guarantee of land use, energy use and other elements and support for scientific and technological innovation, deeply implement the "four major actions", do a good job in practical matters, do a good job in practical matters, and solidly promote high-quality economic development. thank you.

China Daily:

This question should be addressed to Minister Lan. I want to ask how effective it has been in these years when we have been talking about "the Party and government organs are too tight"? This year's government work report further proposed that "governments at all levels should get used to living a tight life". Does that mean that the government should tighten its purse and stop spending money? thank you.

Lan Fo'an:

Thank you for your question. The Party and government organs are living a tight life, which is a clear requirement of the Party Central Committee. Governments at all levels should take the lead in implementing it and run all undertakings diligently and thriftily. As the saying goes, only by being careful can we continue to make profits. If the party and government organs spend less money, people's livelihood can be arranged more money. Of course, the Party and government organs are not keeping their wallets tight and not spending money, but spending what they should spend. The provinces in this province should be "generous with big money and stingy with small money", and concentrate their financial resources to do big things.

In recent years, the financial department has strictly implemented the requirements of tight living, which can be summarized as follows:

First, we will work hard to reduce the cost of administrative operation and increase the guarantee of people's livelihood. In 2023, the central government's expenditure budget for "three public services" will be 20% lower than that of 2019 before the epidemic. Over the same period, financial expenditure on people's livelihood maintained a rapid growth. In 2023, the expenditure of finance at all levels on education and other key areas of people's livelihood will increase by 25.5% over 2019.

The second is to rationally arrange the central government expenditure and increase the transfer payments to local governments. On the basis of effectively ensuring the performance of the departments, the central departments took the lead in tightening their belts. From 2020 to 2022, the central departments' expenditure continued to grow negatively, and only slightly increased by 0.8% in 2023. The money saved was used to support local people's livelihood and promote development. From 2019 to 2023, the central government's transfer payments to local governments increased from 7.44 trillion yuan to 10.29 trillion yuan, exceeding 10 trillion yuan for the first time, an increase of 38%.

Third, we will strictly control general expenditures and ensure the implementation of major national strategic tasks. For example, from 2018 to 2023, the national financial expenditure on science and technology will increase from 832.7 billion yuan to 1082.3 billion yuan, an increase of 30%. In 2024, the central government's science and technology expenditure will continue to increase, with an increase of 10%, to better support science and technology self-reliance.

This year's government work report once again stressed that governments at all levels should get used to living a tight life, further highlighting that this is not a temporary need, but a long-term solution. The financial department will implement the work from three aspects:

The first is the idea of making a living in prison. We advocate simplicity, practice strict economy, and guard against luxury. We take all undertakings with diligence and thrift as our long-term policy, and earnestly implement it in the whole process and all aspects of financial work.

Second, we should do a good job in implementing the policy of tightening the living standards. We will continue to strictly control the management of "three official" funds, strictly implement the rules and regulations on conference travel, asset allocation, government procurement and other aspects, and implement the requirements of tight living. Strengthen budget constraints, promote the streamlining of unnecessary festivals, forums, exhibitions, etc., timely recover and use the surplus idle funds, and use more "real gold and silver" for development and people's livelihood.

The third is to strengthen the supervision of tight days. In 2023, we strengthened financial and accounting supervision, and seriously investigated and dealt with violations such as the use of financial funds for "image projects". Next, we will continue to strengthen supervision and punishment, resolutely put an end to pomp and extravagance, and resolutely prevent "performance projects" and "face projects". thank you.

Shanghai Securities News China Securities Network reporter:

My question would like to refer to President Wu Qing. Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about the basic functions of the capital market. Everyone would like to know what you think about this and what you think about doing a good job in the supervision of the capital market? thank you.

Wu Qing, Chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission:

Thank you for your questions, and thank you all for your concern for the capital market. I haven't got a "full moon" in this position yet, and now I still work while learning, focusing on learning. On the one hand, we should further study and understand the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on the work of capital market, and accelerate the implementation. On the other hand, learn from the market through research, including listening to opinions and suggestions from all parties online and offline.

After sorting it out, I feel very moved and inspired. I think some of the most important basic issues that you have mentioned are the issues related to the basic functions of our market that this reporter just mentioned. For example, how to grasp investment and financing, fairness and efficiency, are worthy of our careful study.

As for investment and financing, I understand that they are one and two sides, and cannot be separated. These two functions complement each other. No investment, no financing, no buyer, no seller. Only the balanced development of investment and financing can form a virtuous circle in the capital market. With regard to fairness and efficiency, I understand that only under the conditions of fair transaction, reasonable pricing and full competition can resources be allocated efficiently and high-quality development be promoted, so that the capital market has lasting vitality. However, because there are many differences between market participants in terms of capital, technology, information, etc., regulators should pay special attention to the issue of fairness and take openness, fairness and justice as the most important principle. This is especially true in a market where small and medium-sized investors account for the vast majority. Therefore, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of investors, especially small and medium-sized investors, is the most important central task of the CSRC. It can be said that there is no one. This is also a direct reflection of the political and people nature of capital market supervision.

As for the next step, we will thoroughly implement the spirit of the Central Financial Work Conference, firmly grasp the main line of strengthening supervision, preventing risks and promoting development, adhere to the market-oriented and legal direction, respect laws and rules, and further promote the high-quality development of the capital market. Respecting laws, first of all, is to respect market laws, economic laws, and innovation laws; To respect the rules, first of all, we should respect the law, the contract, and some international technical norms. In terms of supervision, the next step is to highlight two words: strong and strict.

To be strong means to be strong. In terms of scale, China's capital market is already the second largest market in the world, but it is not strong enough. The market fluctuation of a period of time ago once again exposed some deep-seated problems, which is worth pondering. Investors are the foundation of the market, and listed companies are the foundation of the market. Both investors and listed companies are the source of the development of the capital market. We must treat investors in good faith, better serve investors, further strengthen the protection of investors from the legal, institutional, regulatory and judicial aspects, enhance investors' confidence and trust in the market, and attract more investors, especially medium and long-term funds, to participate in the market. At the same time, we must also focus on improving the quality of listed companies, so that enterprises can play a better role as the main body and improve the investment value. We will also work together with industry authorities, including relevant macro departments, shareholder units, local governments and other aspects to support enterprises to become better and stronger and create a better environment. Fundamentally, we must unswervingly deepen reform and opening up in an all-round way and consolidate the institutional foundation for high-quality development of the capital market.

Strict supervision means strict supervision, strict supervision of the market according to law and strict management of the team. The Central Financial Work Conference clearly pointed out that it is necessary to achieve full coverage of supervision, strengthen institutional supervision, behavioral supervision, functional supervision, penetrating supervision and continuous supervision. We need to carefully check the benchmark and balance sheet, and comprehensively examine and accelerate the improvement of the weak points in the supervision of the stock market, bond market, futures and derivatives markets and other fields, entities and links. We will widen our eyes, strengthen early correction of problem institutions and enterprises, deal with all kinds of risks as soon as possible, crack down on all kinds of violations when they are exposed, and crack down on major violations in key areas, especially those that touch the bottom line, such as fraud, market manipulation, insider trading and other violations. In terms of team management, we will work hard to build a strong supervision force by keeping the edge inward and strictly controlling. thank you.

A reporter from Arabiya TV, UAE:

My question is addressed to Minister Wang Wentao. I'd like to ask your opinion on the foreign trade situation this year? What other policies are there for stabilizing foreign trade?

Wang Wentao:

Thank you for your question. First of all, let me answer what you think. In our opinion, the foreign trade situation this year is still very serious. On the one hand, many international organizations predict that the global economic growth in 2024 will still be lower than the historical average, and the downward pressure on foreign demand will still be great. On the other hand, we have also seen the rise of trade protectionism and unilateralism. The report of the International Monetary Fund shows that in 2023, the world implemented about 3000 trade restrictions, far higher than the 1100 in 2019. The WTO predicts that the growth rate of global trade in goods this year will be 3.3%, far lower than the historical average of 4.9% in previous years. Spillover factors such as geopolitical conflicts and the global "super election year" will also bring many uncertainties.

On the other hand, while we see difficulties, we also see some good signs. In the first two months of this year, we saw a lot of positive trends. From January to February this year, imports and exports are expected to continue the growth trend since October last year. Of course, we also predict that the base in March last year was relatively high, and there may be some decline. On the whole, we see that this trend is going up. The small peak of import and export before the Spring Festival last year has continued to the Spring Festival this year, and some China Europe trains, ocean freighters, cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses are still busy; Many enterprises go abroad to participate in exhibitions and explore the market. This morning I saw that some enterprises went to Frankfurt to participate in the World Lamps Exhibition. There were still many guests in the booth. They were very confident and said that the orders this year were good. Export orders of household appliances, automobiles and other key products were better than expected. But there are also some soft demands, such as mobile phones, toys, shoes and boots. Last year, the export of the "new three kinds" increased by 30%. Objectively speaking, according to the general economic law, it is difficult to maintain rapid development on the basis of 30%. We predict that it may be a steady development trend. On the whole, the industrial foundation, factor endowment and innovation ability that support the development of foreign trade are constantly improving. Our export commodities are climbing up the value chain. Moreover, we are actively opening up, and the import market opportunities are expanding. Both imports and exports have great potential, and foreign trade has shown strong resilience. We are confident and confident in consolidating the basic market of foreign trade and foreign investment.

In view of the difficulties and uncertainties faced by foreign trade, we made efforts to advance our policies. At the end of last year, we made a prediction that "people work hard and spring comes early". We made full preparations in advance and went all out to stabilize foreign trade. We will increase support mainly from three aspects: first, in terms of financial services, we will further strengthen the financial service guarantee for foreign trade enterprises, especially small and medium-sized micro enterprises, so as to give advance volume. Second, in terms of trade promotion, we will continue to do a good job in holding such exhibitions as the Canton Fair, the China Import Expo, the China International Trade Fair, the China Consumer Expo, the China Digital Trade Fair, and so on, release trade promotion information and national trade guides, and encourage enterprises to participate in various domestic and foreign exhibitions. Third, in terms of personnel exchanges, you may have noticed recently that flights between China and foreign countries are further resuming. We will continue to promote with relevant departments to facilitate visa applications for business personnel and support enterprises in trade promotion and supply purchase docking.

In the medium and long term, according to the deployment of the Central Economic Work Conference and the government work report, the key is to cultivate new impetus for foreign trade and promote high-quality development of foreign trade, focusing on four aspects:

First, expand trade in intermediate goods. We will work with willing global trading partners to deepen cooperation in the production supply chain and build an inclusive, resilient and sustainable industrial chain supply chain.

The second is to promote cross-border e-commerce exports. We will improve customs clearance, tax, foreign exchange and other policies, and accelerate the construction of a supply chain and ecosystem that adapt to the development of cross-border e-commerce.

Third, improve the level of trade digitization. We will take the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area Global Trade Digital Pilot Zone, Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, and Foreign Trade Transformation and Upgrading Base as carriers to improve the level of trade digitalization. Accelerate the digitization of international trade documents, build consensus on cooperation in multiple and bilateral fields, and explore cooperation paths.

Fourth, promote green trade development. This is a trend in the future. We will support the trade of green low-carbon products with high quality, high technology and high added value. Build a public service platform for green trade development, help foreign trade enterprises accelerate green and low-carbon transformation, and improve the green development level of the supply chain of the foreign trade industry chain. thank you.

Daily Economic News:

I raised this question with Governor Pan of the People's Bank of China. How does the People's Bank of China consider the "five major articles" of science and technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance and digital finance? thank you.

Pan Gongsheng:

thank you. Doing a good job in "five major articles" such as science, technology and finance is an important focus of high-quality development of financial services for the real economy, and also an important part of deepening the structural reform of the financial supply side. In recent years, the People's Bank of China, together with other financial management departments and industry management departments, has done a lot of work in this regard. Over the past few years, our financial resources investment in science and technology, green, inclusive and other fields has grown at a relatively fast rate. In practice, we have also accumulated some good experiences and practices.

In the next step, the People's Bank of China will strengthen cooperation with the management departments of science and technology, environmental protection and other industries to further enhance financial support, sustainability and professionalism. There are several considerations:

First, at the macro level, we should strengthen top-level design and system planning. For example, in science and technology finance, science and technology enterprises generally go through different stages of seed stage, start-up stage, growth stage and maturity stage. Different stages of enterprise growth cycle have different characteristics of financial demand. At the early stage of the growth of technology-based enterprises, more venture capital and innovation and entrepreneurship investment funds are needed, which is still a weak link at present; Financial institutions also need to further improve their ability to assess the risks of technology-based enterprises. In the next step, they need to make up for weaknesses and build a financial service system covering the whole life cycle of technology-based enterprises. In terms of green finance, we should continue to improve the standard system of green and transitional finance, develop green financial markets, enrich green financial products, and strengthen the market constraint mechanism based on information disclosure. In terms of inclusive finance, we will adhere to the "two unswervingly" principle, improve the policy system and long-term mechanism of financial services for private and small and micro enterprises, and guide financial institutions to treat all types of enterprises equally.

Second, at the policy level, strengthen the guidance and incentives for financial institutions. We will make good use of structural monetary policy tools, establish re loans for scientific and technological innovation and technological transformation, and support the development of high-end manufacturing and the digital economy. We will continue to implement refinancing to support carbon emission reduction, further expand the areas of support and increase the scale. In January of this year, we reduced the interest rate of small refinancing for agriculture support from 2% to 1.75%, which is the interest rate provided by the People's Bank of China to financial institutions. We will also appropriately increase the scale of agricultural support, small and re loans, continue to implement the support tool of inclusive small and micro loans, and expand the standard of inclusive small and micro loans covered by relevant incentive policies from no more than 10 million yuan for a single household to no more than 20 million yuan.

Third, at the implementation and promotion level, it is very important to improve the service capacity of financial institutions. Deeply carry out projects to improve the financial service capability of science and technology, green, small and medium-sized micro enterprises, improve the internal incentive and constraint mechanism of financial institutions, and improve the ability, adaptability and inclusiveness of financial services. Strengthen the risk assessment ability of financial institutions on high-tech enterprises, and enrich financial products that adapt to the characteristics of high-tech fields. Promote the continuous growth of green credit, green bonds and other products of financial institutions, and constantly increase capital investment in key areas such as new energy and green low-carbon transformation. Use modern information technology means such as big data and artificial intelligence to improve the technical capability of financial services.

The People's Bank of China will focus on "five major articles", deepen financial supply side structural reform, further strengthen financial services for major strategies, key areas and weak links, and continue to promote economic transformation and upgrading and high-quality development. thank you.

Phoenix TV Phoenix Network Phoenix Show reporter:

We are concerned about urbanization. China has achieved the goal of "increasing the urbanization rate of permanent residents to 65%" in the 14th Five Year Plan ahead of schedule. It can be said that urbanization has entered the second half. I want to ask Director Zheng of the National Development and Reform Commission, how much potential do you think China's urbanization has? What will the NDRC focus on in the next step to continue to promote urbanization? thank you.

Zheng Zhajie:

Thank you for your question. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), significant progress has been made in China's new urbanization, with the urbanization rate of permanent residents rising from 53.10% in 2012 to 66.16% last year. At the same time, it should be noted that this is the national average, and there is still great potential for urbanization in the central and western regions; There is still a big gap between the urbanization rate of the registered population and the permanent population, and China's overall urbanization rate also has much room for improvement. We will deeply implement the new urbanization strategy, constantly release the huge potential of domestic demand, and provide impetus and support for Chinese modernization. This year, we have four priorities to advance.

First, focus on people first and accelerate the citizenization of agricultural transfer population. According to the survey of the National Bureau of Statistics, there are still 170 million migrant workers and their accompanying families who have not settled in cities and towns. The primary task of urbanization is to orderly promote the citizenization of these people. We will deepen the reform of the household registration system, fully implement the cancellation of restrictions on settlement in cities with a permanent population of less than 3 million in urban areas, and open wider to the outside world except for some megacities. The key is to solve the problems of children's education, housing security and social insurance of the agricultural transfer population, and promote the equalization of basic public services for the permanent population. These are what the masses are most concerned about and what we are most concerned about.

Second, highlight the progress of industrialization and urbanization, and jointly promote new industrialization and urbanization. In areas with high degree of industrialization, the level of urbanization development is generally high, but many areas are still in the process of industrialization, and there is still great potential to drive the development of urbanization through industrialization. We will focus on areas with low urbanization rate and large rural population, rely on local industrial resources and industrial foundation, and accelerate the cultivation of characteristic industrial clusters according to local conditions; Promote the integration and upgrading of homogeneous and inefficient industrial parks, and concentrate resources to build high-level professional industrial parks; We will accelerate the improvement of infrastructure and public services in the county seat, and effectively improve the comprehensive carrying capacity of the county seat.

Third, highlight coordinated development and cultivate and build a modern metropolitan area. Metropolitan area is an effective way to promote the transformation of the development mode of mega cities and the coordinated development of large, medium and small cities. We will accelerate the cultivation of a number of modern metropolitan areas in the direction of central cities radiating and driving the common development of surrounding cities and counties. Strengthen the interconnection of transportation infrastructure in the metropolitan area, steadily promote the construction of rail transit network, and speed up the unblocking of unconnected roads and bottleneck sections; Strengthen industrial division and cooperation, and promote the transfer of some industries in megacities to the surrounding areas; Promote the joint construction and sharing of high-quality public services within the metropolitan area.

Fourth, highlight the weak points and improve the level of urban safety and resilience. In recent years, urban flood, fire and other problems occur frequently, and urban safety and resilience have become a weak point that needs to be supplemented urgently. We will focus on the central urban area with a large population density and key areas with a wide range of impacts. We will focus on the construction of urban "Lizi" projects, focusing on steadily implementing urban renewal actions, promoting the transformation of old urban communities, promoting affordable housing construction, strengthening urban flood control, accelerating the construction of underground pipe networks and other projects, and building a livable, resilient and smart city. thank you.

Economic Daily:

My question is addressed to President Wu Qing. You just mentioned that "listed companies are the foundation of the market", and investors buy stocks to buy listed companies. In your opinion, how to improve the quality of listed companies so that investors can get better returns? thank you.

Wu Qing:

Thank you very much for this question. Your question is too important. You may see from the news recently that the CSRC and local governments are visiting listed companies to help them solve some practical difficulties. To improve the quality of listed companies, first of all, it is the responsibility of the listed companies themselves, but also needs to improve the external environment. The primary responsibility of the CSRC is to focus on the supervision of all links of the whole chain, work with all parties to create a good market ecology and first-class business environment, promote listed companies to further improve governance, information transparency, focus more on the main business, optimize resource allocation, operate more steadily, and better return investors.

In terms of supervision, there are mainly the following aspects: first, do a good job in the supervision of imports, second, export supervision, second, continuous supervision, and finally, the implementation of responsibilities.

First, strictly control the entrance. IPO listing of enterprises must not be for the purpose of "making money", let alone fraud or fraudulent listing. Therefore, all aspects of the review and registration should be in accordance with laws and regulations, strict and strict, urge the issuer to disclose information truthfully, accurately and completely, and try to keep counterfeiters out of the capital market. At present, the CSRC conducts on-site inspection on the enterprises under review, and the Exchange also conducts on-site supervision. However, the coverage of on-site inspection and on-site supervision is still very limited. Next, we need to significantly increase the coverage by several times, further strengthen the investigation and punishment on the clues of violations found, and insist on taking responsibility for reporting, so as to force the issuer to further improve the quality of reporting, It also forces intermediary agencies to improve their practice and service level and be diligent and responsible.

Second, pay close attention to daily work and strengthen post listing supervision. At present, three things are highlighted: first, to prevent and crack down on counterfeits. At present, the CSRC is working with relevant departments to build a comprehensive punishment and prevention system, strengthen penetrating supervision, and severely punish and crack down on financial fraud and illegal behaviors that encroach on the interests of listed companies. The second is to regulate share reduction, and further plug the system loopholes for those who bypass illegal share reduction through "technical" divorce, securities lending sales, refinancing, etc. Large shareholders and actual controllers who reduce their holdings in violation of regulations shall be severely punished according to law. Third, promote dividend distribution. In recent years, the dividend status of A-share listed companies has continued to improve, but there are also many companies that do not pay dividends all the year round. The stability, timeliness and predictability of dividends still need to be further improved. For companies that have not paid dividends for many years or have a low proportion of dividends, we will also take hard measures according to different situations, including limiting controlling shareholders' shareholding reduction, implementing ST risk warnings, and so on. It will also promote conditional companies to pay dividends more than once a year, especially before the Spring Festival, so that everyone can enjoy the Spring Festival.

Third, unblock the exit. Now, many people are calling for greater delisting, and we will take action. On the one hand, we will set stricter standards for compulsory delisting, so as to achieve the goal of "full withdrawal". On the other hand, we should improve policies such as absorption and merger, further expand diversified exit channels, and encourage some companies to take the initiative to delist. Compulsory and active delisting should be strengthened in the next step.

Fourth, compaction responsibility. To improve the quality of listed companies, enterprises must shoulder the primary responsibility and the main responsibility. As the "key minority" of enterprises, controlling shareholders, actual controllers, directors, supervisors and senior executives must stay ahead. The regulatory authorities, industry authorities, local governments and various professional intermediaries should also bear their own responsibilities.

It should be emphasized that in the process of strengthening the supervision of listed companies, the systems, including listing, mergers and acquisitions, and equity incentives, should also keep pace with the times, further adapt to the needs and characteristics of the development of new quality productivity, make necessary adjustments and improvements, enhance the inclusiveness and adaptability of the system, and let real potential enterprises grow and grow with the support of the capital market, Constantly improve the structure of listed companies, so that investors can better share the fruits of high-quality economic development. thank you.

Hubei Radio and Television:

My question is to Minister Lan Fo'an. Public finance is taken from and used by the people, and the people's livelihood concerns thousands of households. What measures has the finance taken to ensure people's livelihood? How to further increase support for people's livelihood? thank you.

Lan Fo'an:

thank you. Your question is also one that I have been paying attention to and thinking about. At present, people's livelihood expenditure accounts for the majority of financial expenditure. Providing public services and ensuring people's livelihood is the most basic function of public finance. There is no trivial matter in the interests of the masses, and people's livelihood is more important than the sky. In recent years, according to the decision and deployment of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the financial department has continued to improve the "livelihood content" of capital arrangements, constantly enhanced the "livelihood temperature" of policy measures, and made efforts to turn the national financial account book into the "happiness list" of the people.

First, the scope of benefits is expanding. After years of continuous efforts, China has built the world's largest education system, social security system, medical and health system. Our current basic endowment insurance covers nearly 1.1 billion people, more than 1.3 billion people are covered by medical insurance, 44 million people are included in the scope of subsistence allowances and special hardship relief, and about 100 million students from economically disadvantaged families receive state aid every year, 159 million students at the compulsory education stage were exempted from tuition and miscellaneous fees and received free textbooks.

Second, the security level has been steadily improved. Policy guarantees for employment, education, social security, medical care, housing, ecological environment and other aspects have been continuously improved. For example, from 2019 to 2023, the financial subsidy standard of medical insurance for urban and rural residents will be increased from 520 yuan to 640 yuan per person per year, an increase of 30 yuan per year, and the accumulated subsidy funds allocated by the governments at all levels will be about 3 trillion yuan; This year, the financial subsidy standard will be increased by another 30 yuan.

Third, the investment is increasing. From 2019 to 2023, the national education expenditure will increase by 18.5%, the social security and employment expenditure will increase by 35.8%, and the health expenditure will increase by 34.4%. In 2024, the budget for education, social security and employment will exceed 4 trillion yuan.

In the next step, the financial department will always shoulder the responsibility of ensuring and improving people's livelihood, implement it in all financial work, adhere to the principle of doing our best and acting according to our ability, focus on the problems that people are anxious about, continue to increase financial input, promote targeted policies, firmly hold the bottom line of people's livelihood, and handle the issues that people care about one by one. thank you.

CGTN reporter:

My question is to Minister Wang of the Ministry of Commerce. We have noticed that you led a delegation to the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference not long ago. Please introduce the main results of this conference and its impact. Next, what will China consider in promoting WTO reform and maintaining the multilateral trading system? thank you.

Wang Wentao:

Thank you for your attention to the work of WTO. I would also like to briefly introduce the basic information of MC13. From February 26 to March 2, the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (MC13) was held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and I led a delegation to participate. After intensive and arduous consultations among member parties, the meeting reached a practical result of "1+10". "1" is the Abu Dhabi Ministerial Declaration, which is hard won this time. "10" includes investment facilitation agreement, ministerial decision of dispute settlement mechanism, e-commerce plan, etc. Members generally believed that this was another major victory for multilateralism and boosted the confidence of the international community in the multilateral trading system. Here I would like to make a brief introduction of several important achievements.

For example, the just mentioned Agreement on Investment Facilitation for Development was officially concluded. Its significance can be summarized in three "firsts". It is the first multilateral investment agreement in the world, the first agreement with development as the core, and the first investment rule negotiation led by developing members. China has played a key leading role in it. At present, 127 members have joined, more than 3/4 of the WTO members, and this number is still growing. After the Agreement comes into force, it will help to improve the level of global investment liberalization and facilitation, improve the international investment environment, and better respond to the strong demands of developing members to attract foreign investment and develop their economies.

For another example, MC13 successfully achieved the effectiveness of the domestic regulation negotiation results of trade in services. This is also the first multilateral agreement on trade in services reached since the establishment of the WTO. There are 72 parties to the agreement, covering more than 90% of global service trade. According to the estimation of international institutions, the entry into force of the agreement will save about 127 billion dollars for global enterprises to participate in international service trade.

For another example, the dispute settlement mechanism is known as the "jewel in the crown" of the WTO. As we all know, due to the obstruction of individual countries, the appeal body has been paralyzed for many years, and the dispute settlement mechanism is struggling. The Ministerial Decision on the Reform of the Dispute Settlement Mechanism was adopted at this session, and all parties agreed to strive to restore the normal operation of the mechanism before the end of this year.

The 166 members of the WTO have different stages of development and different interest demands, which are quite different. The process of each negotiation is very tortuous and difficult, and the achievement of each achievement is extremely difficult. Our team often revolves around the clock, wheel fights, and talks multilaterally and simultaneously. One of the most intuitive examples is that the schedule of MC13 was originally scheduled to end on February 29. Due to difficulties in negotiations, it was delayed for two days, and the closing ceremony was announced in the early morning of March 2. China has always attached great importance to the work of the WTO. When President Xi Jinping presided over the eighth collective study of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee last year, he stressed that the WTO is an important pillar of multilateralism and an important stage for global economic governance. It is necessary to fully participate in the reform of the WTO and the adjustment of international economic and trade rules. During this meeting, the Chinese delegation fully implemented the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech, Show the responsibility of a responsible big country, actively promote talks to promote cooperation, but talk alone is not enough. We need to work with several parties to promote cooperation, and finally find ways to promote cooperation. It should be said that China has played a key and constructive role. This is also another vivid practice of the Chinese side in practicing genuine multilateralism and promoting the implementation of the three major global initiatives.

With regard to the future work of the WTO, we should not only be confident of the inevitable arrival of the WTO, but also be patient step by step. It is really difficult for more than 160 members to form consensus, so we should be confident and patient. As a core member of the WTO and the largest developing country, China will work with all parties to implement the consensus on the achievements of MC13 and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing members. At the same time, we will continue to deepen and fully participate in the WTO reform, promote the resumption of the normal operation of the dispute settlement mechanism within the year, and strive to reach the world's first high standard digital trade rules as soon as possible. We will promote consultations on trade environment and other issues, and promote the WTO to play a greater role in addressing global challenges. We will also continue to take a clear stand against unilateralism and protectionism, unite all parties to oppose politicization, weaponization and pan security of economic and trade issues, promote the construction of an open world economy and build a community with a shared future for mankind. thank you.

Hong Kong Economic Daily:

My question is addressed to President Pan Gongsheng. The Central Financial Working Conference was held last year, and all parties have high expectations for the opening up of the financial sector. President Pan, what are the thoughts and measures of the People's Bank of China in this regard? thank you.

Pan Gongsheng:

Thank you for your question. Opening up is China's basic national policy. The People's Bank of China will adhere to the orientation of marketization, rule of law and internationalization, enhance the transparency, stability and predictability of the opening policy in the financial field, and continue to promote high-level financial opening. We have the following priorities.

The first priority is to expand institutional openness in the financial sector.

We will orderly promote the opening up of the financial services industry. In recent years, the People's Bank of China, together with other financial management departments, has established a national treatment plus negative list system for foreign investment in the financial sector before entering the market, and lifted restrictions on the proportion of foreign shares held in banking, securities, life insurance and other fields. In November last year, the People's Bank of China issued the license for bank card clearing business to Wanshi Netlink. In the next step, the People's Bank of China will work with other financial management departments to actively improve the policy environment, attract more foreign financial institutions and long-term capital to China, and support Chinese financial institutions to go global and expand the international market.

We will steadily expand the two-way opening of financial markets. At present, foreign investors can not only invest in the domestic financial market directly, but also invest in the domestic financial market through the "bond link", "Shanghai Shenzhen Hong Kong Link" and other interconnected ways. Recently, the People's Bank of China, together with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, has incorporated the bonds under the "Bond Connect" into the qualified collateral provided by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority for RMB working capital, and opened overseas investors to participate in the domestic bond repurchase business. At the same time, we optimized the pilot project of "cross-border wealth management link" in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, and expanded the range of participating institutions and products, which was welcomed by the market. By the end of January, foreign investors had bought 1.8 trillion yuan of Chinese bonds in the past 12 months. Next, we will continue to strengthen the connectivity of domestic and overseas financial markets and attract more investors to invest in China's financial markets; We will support high-quality Chinese enterprises to list overseas and issue bonds for financing, and encourage China's sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions and other business entities to invest abroad.

The second priority is to comprehensively promote the facilitation of cross-border trade investment and financing, the internationalization of RMB and the construction of an international financial center.

Improving the facilitation of cross-border trade, investment and financing has been a focus of our work in recent years. For example, we have promoted the reform of foreign exchange business development of commercial banks, improved their internal control ability and technological empowerment, changed from focusing on document review to strengthening prior due diligence and post risk monitoring, and facilitated cross-border trade, investment and financing of business entities. For another example, in order to facilitate multinational companies to coordinate the use of domestic and foreign funds, we launched the multinational companies' domestic and foreign currency integrated capital pool business.

In terms of RMB internationalization, the current pace of diversification of the international monetary system is accelerating, and the endogenous demand of economic entities for the use of RMB is increasing. In recent years, the People's Bank of China, on the basis of conforming to market demand, has continuously improved the institutional arrangements for cross-border use of RMB and the construction of financial infrastructure. The international monetary functions of RMB, such as payment and settlement, investment and financing, and international reserves, have continued to strengthen. RMB has initially possessed the network effect of international use. At present, RMB is the fourth payment currency, the third trade financing currency and the fifth foreign exchange transaction currency in the world. In the next step, the People's Bank of China will continue to improve the cross-border RMB policy, improve the RMB cross-border payment system, optimize the global layout of RMB clearing banks, strengthen monetary cooperation with overseas monetary authorities, and steadily promote the healthy development of the offshore RMB market on the basis of market driven and independent choice.

The People's Bank of China firmly upholds Hong Kong's status as an international financial center. On the basis of the six policy initiatives of "three connections and three conveniences" launched at the beginning of this year, we will continue to deepen financial cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong, strengthen the functions of Hong Kong's international financial asset management center and risk management center, and support Hong Kong in building a financial technology hub and sustainable financial center in the Asia Pacific region. We will continue to vigorously support the construction of the Shanghai International Financial Center and the expansion of high-level financial openness, continue to deepen cross-border trade and investment and financing facilitation measures, and support Shanghai in building a global allocation center and risk management center for RMB financial assets.

The third priority is to create a more friendly and inclusive business environment.

We will continue to improve our payment service. There are three generations of payment tools in modern retail. The first generation is cash, the second generation is bank card and cheque, and the third generation is mobile payment and online payment. China's mobile payment and online payment have rapidly replaced the payment tools of the first and second generation retail terminals. The rapid development and popularization of China's mobile payment has undoubtedly played an important role in improving transaction efficiency, reducing transaction costs and improving financial inclusion, and has also become a highlight of China's financial development. But at the same time, it also brings some problems. Some elderly people and foreigners in China are not convenient and adapt to the payment.

The People's Bank of China will implement the Opinions on Further Optimizing Payment Services and Improving Payment Convenience recently issued by the State Office, work together with relevant government departments, commercial banks, payment institutions, bank card organizations, etc. to improve the acceptance environment of bank cards, optimize cash payment services, and improve the convenience of mobile payment by expanding "internal binding of foreign cards, outsourcing for internal use", etc, Focus on key regions, places and merchants, and promote remarkable results in a relatively short time.

The People's Bank of China, together with other financial management departments, is optimizing the institutional arrangements for cross-border flow of financial data. Last year, the relevant national departments formulated the Provisions on Promoting and Regulating the Cross border Flow of Data, and have solicited public opinions. The People's Bank of China is also working with other financial management departments to optimize the management of cross-border flow of financial data, compile a catalog of important data in the financial field, unify the regulatory compliance criteria, and give clear rules and guidelines to financial institutions. In the future, cross-border flow of financial data will be more standardized and convenient.

The fourth priority is to coordinate financial openness and security.

We will continue to strengthen communication and cooperation with international financial organizations and central banks of major economies, actively participate in global financial governance and policy coordination, strengthen global and regional financial safety nets, and build a "financial bridge" for trade and investment between China and other countries. At the global level, we will continue to promote the share reform of the International Monetary Fund and build a more just and reasonable global financial governance pattern. At the regional level, steadily promote the ASEAN 10+China, Japan and South Korea financial cooperation, the multilateralization of the Chiang Mai Initiative, and increase the use of freely usable currencies in the region. At the bilateral level, we should implement the important outcomes of the China US Summit and steadily advance the key issues of the China US Financial Working Group. We will actively promote the work of the China EU Financial Working Group and deepen financial cooperation with major countries in the region.

We will continue to improve financial security under open conditions, strengthen the monitoring, assessment and early warning of cross-border financial risks, and maintain national financial stability and security. We will improve the scientific and complete financial rule of law system, and accelerate legislative amendments such as the Financial Stability Law, the Anti Money Laundering Law, and the Regulations on Foreign Exchange Control.

The development experience of China's financial market shows that expanding opening up is a powerful driving force and important guarantee for high-quality financial development, and a key measure to improve the ability to serve the real economy and international competitiveness. We will unswervingly do a good job in all aspects of financial opening up. thank you.

Cover reporter:

My question would like to refer to President Wu Qing. Hello President Wu, this year's government work report proposes to enhance the internal stability of the capital market. How do you understand this and what aspects will be promoted? thank you.

Wu Qing:

Thank you for your question. There are many factors that affect the operation of the capital market, and the mechanism is complex. From the perspective of regulators, it is a work that we need to study deeply and work hard to improve the market resilience by attaching importance to the construction of the endogenous stability mechanism of the capital market. At the same time, it is a systematic work, and we must adhere to systematic thinking, bottom line thinking, extreme thinking, and comprehensive measures. I understand that it includes at least "one cornerstone" and "five pillars".

"One cornerstone" is a high-quality listed company. As mentioned earlier, issuers must be of high quality. Listed companies must first have good governance, stable returns or growth that can be expected. The major shareholders, actual controllers and management must keep in mind that the listed company is a public company, and must have the awareness and responsibility of "public", be responsible to the public continuously, and improve the investment value continuously.

The first of the "five pillars" is a more reasonable capital structure. In this market, long money and short money are all needed, but what is more lacking is long money, and what is also lacking is long termism, that is, whether we can have such long capital and long capital to allocate in this market, and can adhere to the concept of value investment, rational investment, and long-term investment, which is something we should strive to promote.

The second is a more perfect basic system. The capital market has a high requirement for standardization. It is necessary to constantly deepen the reform, constantly improve and solidly promote various basic systems, and enhance the adaptability, stability and predictability of the system. For example, both the primary market and the secondary market need to further improve the pricing system and mechanism to make it more reasonable. Through the orderly, fair and full participation of all participants in the game, we can better find prices and better allocate resources. For another example, in the secondary market, quantitative trading is also a hot topic. How to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, further highlight fairness, effectively supervise and standardize development according to our national conditions and market conditions is also the institutional arrangement that needs to be further improved.

The third is an effective market regulation mechanism. The relationship between market supply and demand and price are the decisive factors for the spontaneous adjustment and self balance of the market. For example, how to effectively connect the primary market and the secondary market, and achieve coordinated development in an effective and orderly cycle, this mechanism needs to be further improved.

The fourth is better professional services. Including securities companies, fund companies, futures companies, investment management institutions, accounting and law firms, evaluation and rating agencies, etc., should further return to their roots, be diligent and responsible, put functionality first, constantly improve the level of professional services, and provide better services for the market.

The fifth is stricter supervision and law enforcement. The CSRC has recently taken some more stringent enforcement actions. We will continue to strictly enforce the law. For some major violations involving crimes, we will also strengthen the connection between execution and punishment. Some will also pursue civil liability while pursuing criminal liability. A few days ago, a number of cases of market manipulation and insider trading were just transferred to investigate criminal responsibility. The purpose is to maintain the "three fairness" order of the market, more effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors, make the market more clean and upright, create a better market ecological environment, and let all market participants respect the law and keep their promises, return to their positions and fulfill their responsibilities. This is crucial to stabilizing the market operation.

Of course, we should see that the market operation has its own laws and should not be interfered in under normal circumstances. However, once the market seriously deviates from the fundamentals and extreme situations such as irrational violent shocks, liquidity depletion, market panic, and serious lack of confidence occur, the market should act decisively to correct market failure. In this regard, we have some effective practices and will improve relevant mechanisms to resolutely prevent systemic risks. thank you.

Jin Qingzhong:

thank you. Media friends, for the sake of time, please ask me one last question.

Singapore Straits Times reporter:

I want Minister Lan to answer my question. At the end of last year, we noticed that the excessive debt in some places led to the suspension of infrastructure construction. I want to ask how to deal with the problem of local government debt this year. Is there any specific plan? thank you.

Lan Fo'an:

Thank you for your question. Preventing and defusing local government debt risks is a major issue related to development and security, people's well-being, and sustainable financial operation, and we are also very concerned. In recent years, the Ministry of Finance, together with relevant parties, has resolutely implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, put risk prevention and promoting sustainable financial development in a prominent position, introduced a series of policies and measures, constantly improved the management of local government statutory debt, and actively and steadily resolved the risks of local government implicit debt.

In 2023, in accordance with the decision and deployment of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on "effectively preventing and resolving local debt risks, and formulating and implementing a package of debt programs", all relevant departments and local party committees and governments at all levels further increased their efforts, took more and more practical measures, and achieved positive results. The Ministry of Finance arranges a certain scale of refinancing government bonds within the local government debt limit space, supports local governments, especially high-risk areas, to resolve hidden debts and clear up government arrears of enterprise accounts, so as to alleviate the pressure of centralized repayment of matured debts and reduce the burden of interest expenditure. In accordance with the principle of "province takes the overall responsibility and cities and counties do their best to turn debt", all regions, based on their own efforts, coordinate various resources, formulate debt reduction plans and define specific measures one by one. Through the concerted efforts of all parties, the local debt risk has been alleviated as a whole. The principal and interest payment of local government statutory debt is effectively guaranteed, and the scale of implicit debt is gradually reduced; The government has made positive progress in clearing arrears of enterprise accounts, and the number of local financing platforms has decreased. On the whole, the risk of local government debt in China is generally controllable.

In the next step, the Ministry of Finance will resolutely implement the decisions and arrangements of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, strengthen the source governance, combine the near and far, block and dredge, and address both the symptoms and root causes, work with relevant parties to continuously improve the management of local government debt, accelerate the establishment of a government debt management mechanism compatible with high-quality development, and gradually resolve the risk of local government debt in high-quality development.

First, strengthen the management of legal debts of local governments. We will optimize the debt structure of central and local governments, and scientifically and rationally arrange the scale of local government debt. Make overall arrangements for public welfare project bonds, improve the whole life cycle management mechanism of "borrowing, using, managing and repaying" of special bonds, and improve the efficiency of fund use.

Second, we will further promote the implementation of the package debt program to achieve results. Consolidate the achievements of the early stage debt, guide and urge the local government to strictly implement the main responsibilities, gradually defuse risks by arranging financial funds, reducing expenditure, revitalizing stock assets and resources, and find new development paths in the process of debt resolution.

Third, strict supervision and accountability for illegal borrowing. We will improve cross sectoral joint punishment, strictly implement the lifelong accountability system for local governments' borrowing and the mechanism for checking debt problems, find, investigate, and hold accountable new hidden debt and unrealized debt, and increase the publicity of accountability results, giving play to the warning role of typical cases.

Fourth, focus on building a long-term mechanism to prevent and resolve hidden debt risks. We will establish and improve a comprehensive local debt monitoring and supervision system, resolutely curb new hidden debt, and orderly resolve existing hidden debt. Promote the reform and transformation of financing platforms by category, and continue to reduce the number of financing platforms. thank you.

Jin Qingzhong:

thank you. Media friends, this is the end of today's press conference. Thank you all, thank you, goodbye!