Budgets, schools, heating in focus

A number of budgets to improve people's lives for next year have been announced in a joint notice by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, accounting for more than 124 billion yuan ($18.8 billion).

About 9.28 billion yuan will be allocated to tackle poverty, 10 billion yuan will go to medical subsidies, 18.5 billion yuan will help renovate homes in rural areas and 2 billion yuan will aid people with disabilities, the notice said.

The three ministries required the subsidies to be allocated to counties around the country punctually, the document said. The amount allocated to impoverished counties must be granted in independent categories and the authority will be given to county governments concerning how to spend the subsidies, it added.