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The General Offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Opinions on Reforming and Improving the Social Assistance System in 2020. What achievements have been made in this regard since then? What measures have been taken due to the impact of COVID-19? What considerations will come next? Thank you.

Liu Xitang:

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, two regulations have significantly impacted the development of social assistance. One is the Interim Measures for Social Assistance, promulgated and implemented in 2014. The other is the Opinions on Reforming and Improving the Social Assistance System, issued by the General Offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council in 2020. Since then, the MCA, together with other departments, has implemented the requirements for reforming and improving relevant systems and achieved good results, which greatly enhanced the inclusiveness, accessibility, convenience and accuracy of social assistance.

First, policies and systems have become more rational. Accordingly, we have adjusted and optimized the social assistance policies on subsistence allowances, extreme poverty aid and temporary assistance. The scope of the subsistence allowance scheme was expanded to include individuals with serious illness or severe disability from families just outside the margin of eligibility. The subsistence allowance system covers both households and individuals that need help, providing more people-oriented services. We have relaxed the criteria of extreme poverty and standardized the methods to identify people who are incapable of working. The eligible age of minors covered by the relief scheme for severely impoverished people has been extended from 16 to 18. Moreover, we have implemented the temporary assistance system that allows us to provide assistance first with a small amount, highlighting the function of emergency assistance.

Second, a comprehensive assistance system has basically taken shape. Now, social assistance does not depend on the MCA alone, but is coordinately implemented by all departments. We provide comprehensive assistance of different types at different levels in both urban and rural areas. We have classified the social assistance community into three circles: recipients of subsistence allowances and extreme poverty aid in the core circle, people just outside the margin of eligibility for subsistence allowances and those with basic expenditure difficulties in the second circle, and people who face temporary difficulties in the third circle. We have made multi-pronged efforts with medical care, education, housing, employment and other special social assistance policies. We have established an inter-ministerial joint conference system for national social assistance, set up a coordination mechanism in the county level led by leading government officials to ensure the basic livelihoods of local people living in poverty, and strengthened the coordination of social assistance resources.

Third, the means of verifying the financial conditions of families applying for social assistance is now more scientific. We have adjusted and optimized the method of identifying household income and property, further improved the mechanism for checking the financial conditions of families receiving social assistance, and relaxed the frequency of reviewing the financial conditions of those receiving social assistance.

Fourth, social assistance services have become more convenient and efficient. We have delegated powers to review and approve applications for subsistence allowances and extreme poverty aid to sub-districts and townships, and established a comprehensive service mechanism where applications are processed at a one-stop service counter and coordinated across all departments. We have also allocated temporary assistance reserve funds to sub-districts and townships, required civil affairs departments at all levels to set up hotlines for social assistance services, and established a mechanism to proactively identify those eligible people who are incapable of applying for social assistance by themselves. More and more regions are providing specific services, like allowing people to apply for subsistence allowances directly on their cellphones. These changes have helped to make our social assistance policies more accessible to people in need.

You also mentioned the issue of ensuring the basic needs of people in difficulty during the epidemic. In response to that, the MCA, together with other departments, has implemented the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee, adjusted policies in a timely manner, and issued several emergency response measures. For example, we granted a lump sum of one-time temporary assistance for people facing difficulties but without unemployment insurance. We provided one-time living allowances to people in need, including subsistence allowance recipients and people with special difficulties. We instituted a mechanism to increase social security assistance and benefit payments in step with price rises, expanded assistance coverage for the current period, and lowered the eligibility requirements. Moreover, we provided temporary assistance to people with urgent or special needs that do not hold local residency. All these measures have achieved excellent results in ensuring the basic needs of those struggling due to COVID-19.

Social assistance is the basic system for ensuring people's basic well-being, promoting social equity and maintaining social stability. Going forward, the MCA will fully enforce the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, continue to deepen the reform of the social assistance system, and improve the mechanism to accurately identify people in need. We will innovate and optimize assistance services to make social assistance more law-based, specialized, information-based, and targeted. We will strive to bring a stronger sense of fulfillment, happiness and security to people in difficulty.