Premier Li Keqiang delivered the government work report at the second session of the 13th National People's Congress that opened in Beijing on Tuesday.
Here are the major 2019 tasks from the report.
1. Continue to develop new and improved approaches to macro regulation and keep the main economic indicators within an appropriate range.
Key points:
-- Reduce the current rate of 16 percent in manufacturing and other industries to 13 percent, and lower the rate in the transportation, construction, and other industries from 10 to 9 percent.
-- Reduce the tax burdens on and social insurance contributions of enterprises by nearly 2 trillion yuan.
-- 2.15 trillion yuan of special local government bonds will be issued, an 800 billion yuan increase on last year.
-- Use multiple channels to achieve stable and expanding employment.
2. Work to energize market entities and improve the business environment.
Key points:
-- Lower electricity costs in manufacturing, and cut the average electricity price for general industrial and commercial businesses by another 10 percent.
-- Within two years, almost all expressway toll booths will be removed at provincial borders.
3. Continue to pursue innovation-driven development and foster new growth drivers.
Key points:
--Speed up efforts to pursue Internet Plus initiatives in all industries and sectors.
-- Average broadband service rates for small and medium enterprises will be lowered by another 15 percent, and average rates for mobile internet services will be further cut by more than 20 percent.
-- Implement preferential tax policies such as raising the VAT threshold from 30,000 to 100,000 yuan in monthly sales for small-scale taxpayers.
-- Establish a science and technology innovation board that will pilot an IPO registration system.
4. Stimulate the development of a robust domestic market and keep unlocking the potential of domestic demand.
Key points:
-- Fully implement the revised Individual Income Tax Law.
-- Take significant steps to develop elderly care, especially community elderly care services.
-- Encourage private actors to run childcare and early childhood education agencies.
-- Continue preferential policies on the purchase of new-energy vehicles.
-- 800 billion yuan will be invested in railway construction, 1.8 trillion yuan will be invested in road construction and waterway projects.
5. Make solid progress in poverty alleviation and rural revitalization and move closer to completing the tasks of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.
Key points:
-- Move toward completion of the 13th Five-Year Plan's construction tasks for planned relocations of poor populations from inhospitable areas, and strengthen follow-up support.
-- Speed up reform and innovation in agricultural technologies, make a big push to develop a modern seed industry, implement programs to protect agricultural products with geographical indications, and advance the mechanization of entire agricultural production processes.
-- Expand the use of practices proven successful through trials of rural land requisitions, marketing rural collective land for development purposes, and reforming the system of rural residential land.
6. Promote coordinated development across regions and improve the quality of new urbanization.
Key points:
-- Facilitate Northeast China's full revitalization, central China's rise, and East China's trailblazing development.
-- Give priority to relieving Beijing of functions of nonessential to its role as the capital and on developing the Xiongan New Area according to high standards.
-- Developing the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
-- Elevate the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta to the status of national strategy.
7. Strengthen pollution prevention and control, enhance ecological improvement, and make big advances in green development.
Key points:
-- Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions will be cut by 3 percent.
-- Achieve a 2-percent drop in both chemical oxygen demand and ammonia nitrogen emissions.
8. Deepen reforms in key sectors and speed up the improvement of market mechanisms.
Key points:
-- Enterprises under all forms of ownership will be treated on an equal footing.
-- Prudently advance legislation on real estate tax.
-- Reform and improve the structure of the financial system, and develop private and community banks, to better serve the real economy.
9. Promote all-round opening up and foster new strengths in international economic cooperation and competition.
Key points:
-- Host the second China International Import Expo.
-- Shorten the negative list for foreign investment.
-- Expand the China(Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, step up the building of the China (Hainan) Pilot Free Trade Zone, and explore the opening of a free trade port with Chinese features.
-- Host the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.
-- Continue to promote China-US trade negotiations.
10. Speed up the development of social programs to better ensure and improve living standards.
Key points:
-- Central government spending on education will exceed one trillion yuan.
-- Raise the reimbursement rate from 50 to 60 percent.
-- Make sure we are ready for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, undertake detailed planning and preparatory work for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing, and host a successful Seventh World Military Games.
-- Intensify the special campaign to root out organized crime and local mafia.
