7. We will vigorously develop social programs and balance economic and social development.
1) Development of education remains a high priority. We will increase investment in education, make compulsory education free in both urban and rural areas, continue to reform the mechanism for ensuring adequate funding for rural compulsory education, increase public expenditures for rural compulsory education, provide free textbooks for all students in rural compulsory education programs, raise the level of living allowances for students from poor rural families living on campus and accelerate the project to renovate rural middle school buildings in the central and western regions. We will step up development of the infrastructure for vocational education and increase enrollment in secondary vocational schools. We will improve the structure of academic disciplines and specialties in colleges and universities, promote the development of high-level universities and key disciplines and implement the third phase of the 211 Project for Higher Education. We will improve polices for granting financial assistance to students from poor families at regular undergraduate institutions, vocational colleges and secondary vocational schools. We will continue to provide free education to students majoring in education at normal universities directly under the Ministry of Education and extend the policy to other colleges and universities where conditions permit. We will improve and implement the system for teachers' wages, allowances and subsidies. We will support and standardize privately run schools to promote their sound development. Plans call for enrolling 5.99 million undergraduate students and 449,000 graduate students in regular institutions of higher learning in 2008, with the increase in undergraduate enrollment focused on the central and western regions.
2) We will promote reform and development of public health programs. We will work out a general plan for deepening the reform of the medical care and public health system and steadily implement trial reforms. We will set up a national system of essential medicines and a mechanism for ensuring medicine supply. We will step up efforts to prevent and control major diseases and provide more free treatment for people with AIDS, tuberculosis and snail fever. We will improve the three-tier rural health service network at the county, township and village levels as well as the system of community health services in cities. We will promote development of key traditional Chinese medicine hospitals and the folk medicine of ethnic minorities. We will expand the system for rewarding and supporting some rural families that observe the family planning policy to cover more areas and expand the Fewer Children Equals Faster Prosperity Project in the western region.
3) We need to accelerate the establishment of a system of public cultural services that covers all interests in society. We will increase funding for non-profit cultural programs, especially community-level public cultural programs. We will continue to implement the projects to extend radio and TV coverage to every village, to develop multipurpose cultural centers for towns and townships, to build a national shared database for cultural information and resources and to show movies in the countryside. We will strengthen protection of cultural and natural heritage sites. We will promote the flourishing development of philosophy and the social sciences. We will vigorously develop the press and publishing, radio, television, film, literature and art.
4) We will launch extensive public fitness campaigns. We must do all we can to ensure the 2008 Olympic Games and Paralympics in Beijing are a success. We will accelerate the formulation of policies on the sports industry and carry out a sports and exercise program for rural residents.
5) We will pay attention to developing old-age programs, safeguard the rights and interests of women and minors, show our concern for the disabled and support programs that benefit them.
