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The government has done a lot of work over the past nine years to promote social equity and justice.
On the legal front, the government has incorporated the requirement on respecting and safeguarding human rights into the Chinese Constitution. The government has also formulated the Property Law to protect the legal property rights of the people, amended the Election Law to ensure equal rights of election of urban and rural residents, and abolished the regulations that restrict the freedom of mobility of rural residents to cities. China's urbanization rate has surpassed 50 percent thanks to the removal of these restrictions.
The government has abolished agricultural taxes so as to ease the burdens on farmers. Also, the government now provides nine-year free compulsory education, offers free vocational education to rural students, and grants subsidies and scholarships for university students and high school students in rural areas.
The government also put in place a social security system that includes an old-age pension, unemployment insurance and health care programs. The health care programs already cover 1.3 billion people.
All these measures are an institutional step of our society toward social justice. I know that income disparity and judicial injustice still incur many complaints from the people. The government will continue to work hard to promote social justice during my last year in office. The government will formulate an overall plan for the reform of the income distribution system. The government will formulate and introduce a regulation on the expropriation and compensation of collectively owned rural land so as to ensure farmers' property rights to the land they have contracted. The government has raised expenditure on education to 4 percent of national GDP.
I don't feel surprised at all that there have been some critical comments on the Internet about the performance of the government and I think it is only natural for that to happen.
The government must seriously reflect on the critical views that people have made and, in fact, the government has often been inspired by such comments from the public when making decisions on major issues.
I have often thought about inviting some representatives of the people, who on a regular basis make critical comments about the work of the government, to Zhongnanhai, the seat of the Chinese Government, so that we can have face-to-face discussions on issues they are interested in.
We have tried to solicit the public's views when drafting this year's government work report but more efforts should be made. During my tenure as premier, some slanders about me have caused pain, though without disturbing me. I will continue to press ahead with my work and uphold my ideals without hesitation and misgivings.
China has no self-interest in the Syrian issue and China does not take sides with any party, including the government of Syria. We make our own judgments and determine our own position on this issue on the basis of actual facts.
Relevant parties in Syria should immediately stop the killing of civilians. China respects the Syrian people's legitimate aspiration for change and supports the special envoy jointly appointed by the UN and Arab League in his mediation efforts. China has deep sympathies for the humanitarian plight of the Syrian people. We have participated in relevant international humanitarian aid and will continue to do so. At the same time, China has through its own channels worked intensively with relevant parties for the early launch of a political dialogue process.
China believes that the demand for democracy by the Arab people must be respected and truly responded to.
A thorough legal study must be conducted on private lending in order to introduce legal safeguards. The case of Wu Ying, a businesswoman from east China's Zhejiang Province who was given a death sentence in February on charges of fraud and illegal fund-raising, must be handled on the basis of real facts. The Supreme People's Court is taking a cautious attitude toward the Wu Ying case.
The case shows that private financing activities cannot meet the requirement of economic and social development in China. Chinese companies, particularly small and micro ones, need access to funds, but the banks are not able to meet those companies' needs and there is a large amount of idle private capital.
The government should allow private capital to enter the financial sector and make the process standardized and open. We need to encourage their development, and at the same time put them under strict oversight and supervision. The People's Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission are actively considering launching pilot reform programs on developing private financing activities in Wenzhou, Zhejiang.
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