3) An all-out effort was made to address pollution. The average concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) dropped by 14.1% in the 74 cities where the new ambient air quality standards were first applied last year. More efforts were made to prevent and control water pollution in major water basins and to protect the ecosystems of lakes; as a result, the proportion of surface water with a water quality rating of Grade III or higher has risen to 66%. The pilot demonstration project to treat and restore contaminated soil was launched, and progress was made in trials for the environmental monitoring of contaminated sites.
4) Fresh achievements were made in responding to climate change. The first round of pilot projects for low-carbon cities (towns) were launched, and trials for trading carbon emissions rights were carried out in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangdong, Hubei, and Shenzhen. Our participation and constructive role at the United Nations Climate Change conference in Paris allowed us to put forward China's approach to climate governance and make a contribution toward the adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement.
7. We put greater emphasis on ensuring and improving living standards and made consistent progress in improving people's quality of life. Multiple methods were used to increase investment, strengthen points of weakness, and help those most in need, thereby helping to weave a strong social safety net.
1) The implementation of targeted measures to reduce poverty gathered pace. We launched a number of projects to alleviate poverty, such as relocating people from inhospitable areas, supporting the development of local industries, promoting education and helping to increase health standards in poor areas, and providing support for people seeking employment. The number of people living in poverty in rural areas was reduced by 14.42 million. Greater efforts were made to support the development of the old revolutionary base areas and the revitalization of the former Central Soviet areas including southern Jiangxi. We strengthened support from the central government and pairing assistance programs for underdeveloped localities, and took further steps to promote both the economic and social development and the long-term peace and stability of Xinjiang, Tibet, and Tibetan ethnic areas in Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai.
2) Personal income increased steadily. Per capita disposable personal income increased by 7.4% in real terms. Rural per capita net income exceeded 10,000 yuan and registered a 7.5% increase in real terms, making it the sixth consecutive year in which the increase in rural per capita net income has surpassed the growth rate of both GDP and urban per capita disposable income. The ratio of urban income to rural income per capita dropped to 2.73:1.
3) Steady progress was made in the area of social security. The number of people covered by basic old-age insurance has reached 858 million. The rate of participation for basic medical insurance stood at over 95% and pension benefits for enterprise retirees continued to rise. The minimum basic pension benefit for rural and non-working urban residents rose from 55 yuan to 70 yuan per month. The annual government subsidy for basic medical insurance covering rural and non-working urban residents was increased from 320 yuan to 380 yuan per person. Work to establish a standardized system to provide basic necessities for people experiencing extreme difficulties began. The system for granting living allowances to people with disabilities who are facing financial difficulties and a caring subsidy to people with serious disabilities was put in place in 20 provinces and provincial-level municipalities, with over eight million people benefiting from the system.
4) Better public services were provided. We continued to improve the basic conditions of badly built and poorly operated schools providing compulsory education in poor areas, launched the plan to strengthen the workforce of teachers in rural areas, and opened up more channels through which students from poor rural areas enter key colleges and universities. The retention rate of nine-year compulsory education reached 93%, while the gross enrollment ratio for senior secondary education reached 87%. We improved the system for community-level medical care services, the prevention and control system for major diseases, and the work to train general practitioners. The per capita government expenditures on basic public health services increased to 40 yuan, with the number of categories of basic public health services increasing to 12. We issued and implemented the national standards to guide the provision of basic public cultural services, and increased support to improve prefecture-level facilities for public cultural services. Significant progress was made in catalyzing innovative development in the sports industry.
Box 13: Provision of Public Services
5) The construction of government-subsidized housing progressed smoothly. We supported government-subsidized housing projects, such as the rebuilding of run-down areas, by increasing central government's budgetary investments and special funding in this area, allocating special development funds, and securing financing through corporate debt issuance. Over the last year, construction began on 7.83 million government-subsidized housing units in urban areas and construction on 7.72 million units was basically completed.
In assessing performance in relation to meeting the targets projected in the plan, overall targets for national economic and social development, such as the economic growth rate, the consumer price index, the balance of payments, and employment levels, remained within the proper range; those targets reflecting economic structure and quality were further improved; targets regarding social development and people's wellbeing maintained positive momentum; and targets related to resource conservation and environmental protection were implemented satisfactorily. Overall, planned targets were well met.
All 18 obligatory targets have been achieved as planned. Of the 41 anticipatory targets, the performance of 35 was in line with or better than expectations, 5 fell short of the projected figures, and there is one target for which the figures are not comparable due to changes in the statistical standards. It should be noted that the anticipatory targets are neither mandatory nor predicted; they are development objectives that the government hopes to achieve and a reflection of the anticipated direction of national development and policy orientation. The actual performance of these targets is objectively decided by the market, and may be higher or lower than the projected figures. The reasons for the discrepancies between the projected figures for some anticipatory targets and the actual performance are as follows: First, in order to reflect the orientation of macro-control policies toward boosting domestic demand, the targets of total retail sales of consumer goods and fixed-asset investment were set slightly higher than the estimated figures. These were targets for us to work toward over the course of the whole year, and as a result, there was a minor difference between the actual performance and the projected figures. The actual increase in the total retail sales of consumer goods basically met the projected target in real terms, but was lower than the target set at the beginning of the year in nominal terms because of imported deflation, the decline in the prices of some domestically manufactured goods, and the limited increase in the prices of agricultural products. In the face of a sluggish international market and insufficient domestic demand, total fixed-asset investment also fell short of the projected figure set at the beginning of 2015. This was due to serious overcapacity in some manufacturing industries; excess supply in the real estate markets of third- and fourth-tier cities; and a sustained fall in the prices of goods for investment as well as other factors. Second, unique factors resulted in the target for spending on R&D being lower than the projected figure. This was due to the increasing downward pressure on economic growth and the continued decline in the profits of enterprises in 2015. In addition, the figure for spending on R&D as a percentage of GDP in 2014 was adjusted statistically from 2.09% at the beginning of the year to 2.05% at the end of the year. These factors meant that the 2015 target for R&D spending as a percentage of GDP was not achieved. Third, changes in the international economic environment caused the yearly figures for some targets to be lower than the projected figures. Under the influence of a slowdown in the growth of world trade and a slump in energy prices on the international market, the growth of total import and export volume was slower than projected. A sharp drop in the prices of major commodities on the global market and the slackening demand for natural gas on the domestic market also meant that natural gas output for last year fell short of the projected target. Finally, the statistical standards for calculating the population using household registration have been adjusted by the competent department, and therefore the actual figure for the percentage of the population registered as urban residents in 2015 is not comparable with the projected figure.
In brief, facing complex situations both at home and abroad, the achievements that China has made thus far in economic and social development have not come easily. They are the result of the correct leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and the concerted efforts of all regions and departments and the people of all our ethnic groups. Through five years of hard work, the major targets set out in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development have been successfully completed.
