Finance Minister outlines China´s budget plan to NPC

cctv.com 03-06-2004 12:56

Following the report on the national economic and social development is the report on the implementation of the central and local budget for 2003, and on the draft budget for 2004 -- by Finance Minister Jin Renqing.

In the beginning of his report, the finance minister summarized that 2003 was not an easy year. Despite that, the country's financial revenue still reached a record high of some 2,169 billion yuan, or around 271 billion US dollars, the first time ever surpassing 2,000 billion yuan, or some 250 billion US dollars. That's 14.7 percent more than in 2002.

The minister said spending also increased more than 10 percent. But the total deficit was kept within 319 billion yuan, or around 39 billion US dollars.

The finance minister also specified how the money was spent in 2003. According to the report, a large portion of the budget was directed toward improving the livelihood of farmers. These expenditures include spending on achieving fee-to-tax reform in rural areas, as well as on developing technology in the agricultural sector. Another part of the budget went to the country's reemployment and social security system.

Editor:Zhang  Source:CCTV.com