context: After Two Sessions on 11 Mar 2022, Premier Li Keqiang held a press conference to summarise and answer questions about the Government Work Report that had been passed. At this presser Li explicitly stated that 2022 is his last year in the office.
Li Keqiang hosted a press conference on the Government Work Report, specifying
- the 2022 GDP growth goal was ambitiously set at 5.5 percent
- reserving policy space for challenges in 2022
- fiscal, monetary policy and employment goals aim for 6 percent of GDP growth
- stabilising and reducing the deficit and macro leverage rate
- comparing the GDP growth to climbing a mountain: 'the higher the total GDP amount, the lower the growth rate'
- responding to the Russia–Ukraine war
- all countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected
- China is willing to participate in international negotiations
- sanctions will harm all parties
- reductions in taxes and fees
- the policy was chosen by entrepreneurs when Li talked with them in 2021
- promoting tax returns and reductions with at least C¥ 1.5 tn in tax returns
- the one-time tax return is the fastest and most beneficial support for SMEs
- fiscal difficulties
- local governments must be economical
- the central government to use transfer payments to compensate for tax returns
- support for Hong Kong's COVID prevention
- employment
- strengthening macro-fiscal and monetary support to employment
- ensuring social security for the 'flexibly employed' population
- no clear statement regarding whether China will be 'open' in 2022 regarding the COVID-19 epidemic
- ensuring essential business activities
- accumulating experience for further epidemic developments
- business environment
- streamlining governance
- improving government services
- 'devolution, governance, services' reform
- streamlining governance
- the US and China cannot decouple
- stressing common interests of China and the US
- competition should be healthy competition
- support offline business
- peaceful unification with Taiwan and opposition to 'separatists'
- challenges and achievements of government
- improvements in people's livelihoods are seen as an achievement
- no clarification of challenges
- livelihood improvement
- at least four percent of fiscal expenditure for education, mainly for rural areas and compulsory ed
- increasing health insurance expenditure (average of C¥ 30 per capita)
- improving cross-provincial services and digital licenses
- strictly fighting the crime of human trafficking
- common prosperity
- common prosperity will not end the opening-up policy and will benefit investment and opening
- continuing to welcome foreign investments
- China still has a very big potential market