2017 government work report looks to improve people's lives

Apart from releasing details of the much-anticipated GDP target, the government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang also set many goals aimed at improving the quality of people's daily lives.

CRI China Plus's Ding Heng took a closer look.

Premier Li used the term "a war in defending blue skies" as he pledged to further strengthen environmental protection in 2017.

Measures to tackle air pollution, especially smog, were highlighted in the report.

"We will strengthen research on the causes of smog so that steps to be taken will be scientific and precise. As long as our whole society keeps trying, we will have more and more blue skies going forward. We will also enhance the development of the industries which are related with energy conservation and environmental protection. We need to seek a balance between environmental protection and the economy."

The pledge came after people in many regions, especially north China, failed to perceive an improvement in the air they breathed last year.

Five rounds of heavy smog descended in Beijing and its surrounding area, an air pollution hot spot, last December alone.

The government report says China plans to cut emissions of nitrogen oxides by 3 percent, while at the same time, to restore at least 800-thousand hectares of farming land back to forest or grass land.

Yang Yu, a Beijing-based current affairs commentator, says on environmental matters, a sense of urgency and patience co-exist in the report.

"Premier Li set many specific goals for China's different regions, and there are timetables for those goals to be achieved. They are urgent. But at the same time, we need to understand China's industrialization and urbanization lags far behind developed economies, and development in these aspects is also a way to improve people's livelihoods. Economic development and environmental concerns need to be addressed simultaneously. This is the dilemma China is faced with today. But we just need to overcome it."

Premier Li has also promised to further improve healthcare services.

One measure is to accelerate the building of a nationwide health insurance database so that people can access their insurance wherever they are.

Over the past two years, China has been seeking to develop two healthcare programs, one focusing on family doctors, the other on establishing a mechanism whereby patients with minor problems are mostly treated in community medical institutions. The latter aims to make more room in big hospitals for people diagnosed with serious diseases.

The government report says China is planning to make these two programs available in at least 85-percent of all prefectures across the country in 2017.

The Premier suggested a more reasonable allocation of medical resources should be the direction of China's healthcare reform.

"We will, on a trial basis, establish partnerships between different levels of medical institutions. Public hospitals at municipal level or above are required to participate and play a leading role in this initiative. We will establish incentive-based mechanisms which will encourage a coordinated use of good medical resources. These measures are aimed at improving the capacity of community hospitals and providing convenience to patients."

Apart from environmental and healthcare matters, the report also noted that China's central authorities are planning to increase a specific fund by more than 30 percent to boost efforts to lift over 10 million people out of poverty in 2017.

More than 11 million jobs are expected to be created in urban areas, 1 million higher than the goal last year.

Premier Li says a massive plan to fully develop China's education by 2030 is also underway.

For CRI, this is Ding Heng.