China's State Council stresses need for efforts in flood, drought relief work

BEIJING -- China's State Council stressed efforts in flood prevention and drought relief at an executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang on Friday.

The meeting stressed the need to put the people and their lives first, enhance preparedness for flood prevention and drought relief work, and take effective measures to defuse hidden dangers in key and vulnerable areas.

Efforts should also be made to distribute drought relief water resources and ensure water security in urban and rural areas, especially for grain production, the meeting said.

It also deliberated and adopted a guideline on advancing the transformation of villages in super-large and mega cities, as well as a draft regulation on social insurance management.

In super-large and mega cities, the steady promotion of the renovation of these villages is a significant move to improve people's livelihoods, expand domestic demand and promote high-quality urban development, the meeting noted.

It called for efforts to be made in the scientific formulation of plans to renovate -- and integrate the renovation of -- villages in cities with the construction of government-subsidized housing.

Policy support for renovation work should be ramped up, the meeting said. It urged innovation in the pattern of renovation, encouragement for private capital's participation, and the development of new business formats to achieve sustainable operations.

It also noted that legislation on social insurance management is conducive to standardizing services, optimizing service management, and protecting the social security rights and interests of the masses in an improved manner.

The supervision and institutional development of social insurance funds should be enhanced, and all types of violations of laws and regulations should be punished in accordance with the law to ensure the safe operations of funds.