Xi Stresses Targeted Efforts to Improve Weak Links in Building Moderately Prosperous Society

BEIJING — Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, stressed targeted efforts to improve weak links in building a "moderately prosperous society in all respects".

Xi, also president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks on April 22 at the fourth meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs. He is also head of the committee.

While addressing the meeting, Xi said the country had achieved "decisive progress" in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. However, there remain weak areas that should be faced squarely and dealt with targeted efforts.

Xi also called for courage and wisdom to tackle problems and good implementation of the decisions taken at the central economic work conference.

The meeting was also attended by other Party and state leaders, including Li Keqiang, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, and Han Zheng. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the National Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development and other related organizations briefed the meeting attendees about their work on improving weak links in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

The NDRC, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the People's Bank of China and other relevant departments reported to the meeting attendees regarding the implementation of decisions taken at the central economic work conference.

Building a moderately prosperous society in all respects is a target to be completed by 2020.

Poverty alleviation efforts should be focused on areas that are trapped in deep poverty. On top of making sure that people in these areas are kept warm and fed, more efforts should be made to ensure that they are covered by compulsory education, basic medical care and safe housing, the meeting said.

The meeting also urged efforts to tackle prominent problems that pollute the environment in key areas, advance the work on public well-being by increasing input in compulsory education, basic medical care, safe housing and drinking water, as well as child and elder care.

The meeting also stressed the improvement of the subsistence allowances system.

Efforts should be made to expand supply-side structural reform, make micro-entities more dynamic, and upgrade the industrial chain.

The meeting pointed out that it is necessary to strengthen regulation of countercyclical macro policy and strive to put tax cuts and fee reduction in place as soon as possible.

Monetary policies should not be too loose or too tight, and should be pre-tuned and fine-tuned in a timely manner in accordance with economic growth and consumer price changes, so as to increase financial support for real economy.

Greater efforts should be made to improve business environment, accelerate the upgrading of the economic structure, improve capabilities to innovate in science and technology, and speed up green development, said the meeting.