Phoenix TV:

At its third plenary session, the 20th CPC Central Committee set forth plans for further deepening reform comprehensively. The government work report also includes specific arrangements for reform and opening up. Could you shed light on the key sectors targeted for reform initiatives this year? And what new measures will be implemented to expand opening up?

Shen Danyang:

I will answer this question. This year, the government work report primarily focuses on implementing the reform plans outlined in the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. Throughout the document, it embodies the principles and requirements of reform, emphasizing the need to effectively implement annual reform tasks. It highlights the importance of both comprehensive advancement across all sectors and achieving breakthroughs in key areas, particularly in accelerating the implementation of landmark reform measures. The report outlines a wide range of reform measures. Here, I will highlight just three of them. Regarding reform of the fiscal and taxation systems, we will press ahead with moving excise tax collection further down the production-to-consumption chain, with the power of collection steadily being passed to local governments this year. This effort has been proposed for several years, and now, there is a firm commitment to speeding up its implementation. This reform will have a substantial impact and provide significant advantages. It alleviates financial pressure on producers without increasing the burden on taxpayers. Furthermore, it will encourage local governments to improve the consumption environment and actively bolster local consumption. For education reform, the report proposes a phased implementation of free preschool education. This is seen as an essential reform measure to ensure equitable preschool access. It offers numerous benefits to the public and society, helping to reduce family childcare and education costs, as well as contributing to the long-term demographic stability. In terms of health care reform, the report underscores the need to deepen the reform of public hospitals with a focus on public welfare. This will help effectively enhance the service quality of public hospitals, making health care more reliable and convenient for the public. Many breakthrough and landmark reform measures are mentioned in the report. However, due to time constraints, I am unable to elaborate on them one by one.

Speaking of openness, opening up is a key strategy for China's development. The Chinese government will steadfastly promote greater openness, continually widening its doors to the world. This year, the report also proposes several new measures to enhance openness, emphasizing the need to steadily expand institutional opening up and take the initiative to open wider and advance unilateral opening up in a well-ordered way, and continue fostering a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized. For instance, the report proposes to actively promote foreign investment. This year, we will further relax market access for foreign investment, expand pilot projects to open up sectors including telecommunications, health care and education, revise and extend the "Catalog of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment," and broaden the fields and scope of foreign investment. Another example is the effort to strengthen support services for foreign-invested enterprises, optimize project services throughout the entire process, expand financing channels for these enterprises, and facilitate easier personnel exchanges. And there are, in fact, many more measures for opening up like these efforts. These measures will offer more opportunities and better conditions for foreign enterprises and investors to develop in China. We believe that as long as foreign investors seize favorable opportunities to make long-term plans and actively invest in and cooperate with China, they will undoubtedly be able to benefit from those opportunities arising from China's ever-expanding market. Thank you.