Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers the government work report during the opening meeting of the second session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 5, 2014.[China.org.cn]

Report on the Work of the Government

Delivered at the Second Session of the Twelfth

National People's Congress on March 5, 2014

Li Keqiang

 Premier of the State Council

Fellow Deputies,

On behalf of the State Council, I now present to you the report on the work of the government for your deliberation, and I welcome comments on my report from the members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

I. Review of Work in 2013

Last year was the first year for this government to perform its functions in accordance with the law, and it had arduous tasks. We faced a complex environment: the world economic recovery was difficult. In China, downward pressure on the economy increased, natural disasters occurred frequently, and there was an array of interrelated problems.

However, the people of all of China's ethnic groups, under the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) with Comrade Xi Jinping as General Secretary, confidently met all challenges, strove to overcome difficulties, fully attained the main targets for economic and social development for the year, and made impressive achievements in reform and opening up and in the socialist modernization drive.

-The economy was stable and improved. The gross domestic product (GDP) reached 56.9 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.7% over the previous year. The rise in the consumer price index (CPI) was kept at 2.6%. The registered urban unemployment rate was kept at 4.1% and 13.1 million urban jobs were created, an all-time high. Total imports and exports exceeded US$4 trillion, reaching a new high.

-Personal income continued to rise, and economic performance continued to improve. The per capita disposable income of urban residents rose by 7% in real terms, and the per capita net income of rural residents rose by 9.3% in real terms. The number of rural people living in poverty was reduced by 16.5 million and the urban-rural income gap continued to narrow. The profits of industrial enterprises with annual revenue of 20 million yuan or more from their main business operations rose by 12.2%. Government revenue increased by 10.1%.

-Progress was achieved in adjusting the economic structure. Grain output exceeded 600 million metric tons, increasing for the tenth consecutive year. The value-added of the service sector accounted for 46.1% of GDP, surpassing secondary industry for the first time. The proportion of the gross regional product of the central and western regions to China's GDP continued to rise, and development in different regions became better balanced. China's total electricity consumption increased by 7.5%, and the volume of freight transport rose by 9.9%. Main real physical indexes matched economic growth.

-Social programs developed vigorously. Progress was made in education, science and technology, culture, and health. The Shenzhou-10 spacecraft was sent into orbit. The Chang'e-3 lunar lander successfully landed on the moon. The submersible Jiaolong broke the record for manned deep-sea dives. All this shows that the Chinese people definitely have the ability and wisdom to achieve the objective of making the country more innovative.

In the last year, we met more difficulties but delivered a better performance than expected. The economy and society developed both quantitatively and qualitatively, thus laying a good foundation for future development. These achievements encourage us to forge ahead and make further progress.

Last year, we adhered to the general work guideline of making progress while maintaining stability. We worked to maintain stable growth, make structural adjustments and carry out reform in a holistic way. We ensured that the government's macro policies are stable, micro policies are flexible and social policies meet people's basic needs. We improved the ways of exercising macro-control and adopted measures with both short-term and long-term benefits in mind. We strove to break new ground, improve quality, and make progress while ensuring stability. All our work got off to a good start.