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More government funds were allocated to solve problems related
to employment, social security and social undertakings in 2003,
Minister of Finance Jin Renqing said Saturday at the annual session
of the national legislature.
Last year, a special fund of 4.7 billion yuan was established in
the central budget for transfer payments to support reemployment
programs, and efforts were stepped up to ensure that living
allowances for workers laid off from state-owned enterprises and
basic old-age pensions for retirees from the same enterprises were
both paid on time and in full, and low-income urban residents
received their subsistence allowances.
The central government allotted 60.8 billion yuan to guarantee
the payment of living allowances and basic old-age pensions, 13.1
percent more than the previous year, and 9.2 billion yuan to help
pay subsistence allowances, double the sum for 2002.
According to the minister, the central government began making
annual allocation of 1.5 billion yuan in 2003 for a special fund to
help local authorities solve problems in people's lives, especially
ex-serviceman working in some enterprises.
To solve the long-standing problem of obligating relevant
authorities to provide old-age insurance for employees of land
reclamation enterprises, the central government allocated 730
million yuan in subsidies to the central and western regions and
the land reclamation zones under its jurisdiction.
The year 2003 saw significant increase in investment in social
undertakings, when a total of 85.5 billion yuan was spent from the
central budget on education, health, science and technology,
culture and sports, 9.4 billion yuan or 12.4 percent more than the
previous year.
A special investment of 2 billion yuan was made to continue the
renovation of dangerous primary and secondary school buildings in
rural areas. Two billion yuan was allocated for the State Natural
Sciences Fund, 800 million yuan for key state basic research
programs, 4.5 billion yuan for the state's March 1986 Hi-tech
Program, and 3.3 billion yuan for the knowledge innovation pilot
program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said Jin.
(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2004)
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