Full text: Report on China's central, local budgets

III. Fiscal Reform and Development in 2017

1. Tightening and improving macro-fiscal control to help achieve China's objectives for economic growth

A combination of various fiscal policy instruments will be employed, their coordination with monetary and industrial policies will be strengthened, and policies will be made to work better together. We will see that fiscal policies play a guiding role, and will create new ways of using government funds to fully stimulate the enthusiasm of enterprises and individuals and of the central and local authorities. We will strengthen standardized management over the establishment of government investment funds and the wider application of PPP to see that they effectively play their role in encouraging investment from non-government sources. We will better manage expectations, take the initiative to communicate with market entities, and listen to their reasonable demands in order to promptly improve policies and measures. We will work to increase open access to information on policies and increase policy transparency to ensure we are sending clear policy signals to market players. We will work to make policies more implementable and ensure that the intended effect of policies such as cutting taxes and fees is fully unleashed and that individuals and market entities have a stronger sense of benefit.

2. Continuing fiscal and taxation reforms to accelerate the establishment of a modern fiscal system

The budget management system will be improved. We will introduce the revised regulations on the implementation of the Budget Law. We will do more to release budgets and final accounts and improve transparency in public finance. We will continue working on the reform to introduce budget performance administration, taking gradual steps to see that all budgetary funds are brought under performance administration.

We will review and integrate special transfer payments, continue to review enterprise-related special funds, improve the way transfer payments are allocated, strengthen their supervision and oversight, and work hard to ensure that there is no overlapping of projects and no misuse or wasting of funds.

We will deepen the reform to introduce departmental budgets, step up efforts to ensure that central CPC and government departments build project databases, see that budgets are being worked out in greater detail, and make more funds for budgetary items available at the start of the year. We will organize the implementation of pilot reforms to make budgets detailed down to the specific economic category and to prepare government financial statements, and move faster to improve principles on government accounting.

We will carry out reform of the fiscal system and of the way fiscal powers and expenditure responsibilities are shared between the central and local governments. We will move faster to develop a plan on how revenues are to be shared between the central and local governments. We will improve the system of fiscal policies that support the granting urban residency to people with rural household registration living in urban areas and make solid progress in new urbanization which places people at the core.

We will continue working on the reform of the tax system. We will improve and implement the trials to replace business tax with VAT in all sectors of society, and simplify the structure of VAT rates by cutting the number of tax brackets from four to three in order to make the taxation environment more simple, transparent, and equitable. A plan will be drawn up to improve our local tax systems. We will continue to deepen reforms to develop resource taxes and will pilot water resource tax in more areas. In accordance with the principle of tax legality, we will lose no time in preparing the drafts of the tobacco leaf tax law, the tonnage tax law, and the tax law on farmland used for nonagricultural purposes, and we will actively work for progress in legislative work on other taxes. We will formulate regulations on the implementation of the Environmental Protection Tax Law. We will draw up a plan for building an individual income and property database. We will help to accelerate legislation on public-private partnerships.

3. Improving management of budget implementation to ensure annual budgets are fulfilled

The implementation of revenue budgets will be closely followed, analysis of the way implementation is going will be strengthened, and responses will be swift and effective. We will work to ensure that taxes are collected in accordance with the law, and work resolutely to prevent and correct the unlawful collection of tax and accounting tricks that boost revenue on paper.

To comply with the Budget Law, we will increase the proportion of transfer payments made available to local governments early enough for them to be included in local budgets, and promptly process the budgets of central Party and government departments and the budgets for transfer payments to local governments.

We will make budgets more binding, ensure budget adjustment is minimized, and in principle, will not make extra budgetary funds available during the budget cycle with the exception of emergency expenditures such as those through disaster relief funds and on items approved by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. If the progress being made in budget implementation for a project is too slow or it becomes apparent a project cannot be completed during the cycle, the use of allocated funds will be promptly altered to avoid funds remaining idle.

We will strengthen unified management of budgetary funds, by removing rules on general public budgets related to expenditures being based on revenue and designated funds being limited to use for fixed purposes and by working in accordance with regulations to restore to the treasury for unified use both the surplus funds of localities and departments and those funds carried forward for two consecutive years. We will establish a mechanism for achieving coordination in the issuance of treasury bonds and the management of the balance in the treasury, ensure that local-government bonds are issued at the right pace, and maintain an appropriate balance in the treasury. We will deepen reform to introduce a system for the treasury's centralized revenue collection and expenditure payments, ensure proper allocation and transfer of funds, and put government funds to better use.

4. Improving fiscal management and ensuring the secure and effective use of government funds in accordance with standards

The system for managing power and responsibility will be improved, forming institutions which ensure that power comes with responsibility, the use of power comes with accountability, and all who abuse power are held to account. We will establish, as prescribed in financial and economic management regulations, a robust accountability system for examination and approval. We will improve the internal control system and supervision mechanism for the allocation of funds, and accelerate the establishment of an oversight system for all stages of operations from beginning to end to ensure that every aspect of examination and approval is subject to oversight and accountability. We will move faster to see a transformation in the way all representative offices of China's Ministry of Finance work, making them substantively involved in budget management, strengthening the arrangement and examination of transfer payment funds and oversight and performance evaluation on implementation, and constantly improving the effectiveness of oversight.

We will work to see internal control strengthened in departments of finance, get stricter in ensuring institutions are implemented, and effectively prevent risk in fiscal activity and risks to clean government. We will improve public finance management. We will strengthen oversight and inspections on the management and use of funds, tighten up financial discipline, and improve financial management at the county and township levels. 

5. Strengthening management of local government debt to effectively prevent financial risks

Higher priority will be given to preventing and controlling local government debt risks. We will implement the Budget Law and the relevant documents of the State Council to the letter, do better in imposing ceilings for local government debt and incorporating this debt into budgets, step up work to see local government bonds being issued to replace outstanding debt, and strengthen oversight over local implementation of the debt management system. We will delineate the boundaries of local government debt in accordance with the law and guide provincial-level governments to quickly and effectively defuse other risks related to local government debt. We will improve statistical and monitoring systems, study the possibility of integrating the debt of financing platform companies and medium- and long-term government expenditures into the scope of statistics and monitoring, and draw back the veil on hitherto hidden risks. We will urge provincial-level governments to develop local contingency plans for handling matters of exigency linked to local-government debt risk and to promptly undertake risk evaluations and ensure early warnings so that instances of risk are discovered, reported, and handled as soon as they emerge.

We will encourage departments to exercise joint oversight and supervision, and step up work on investigating and dealing with illegal bond issuance and hold those responsible to account. We will improve the management of local governments' special debt, move faster to see special bonds being issued according to item classification of the revenue into local government-managed funds, work to develop special bonds that can strike a balance between revenue and expenditures, and at the same time establish an asset statistical system in response to special bonds.

Esteemed Deputies,

The coming year is of great significance for the development of the cause of CPC and the country because the Party will hold its 19th National Congress. We must rally more closely around the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core, hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, consciously accept the oversight of the NPC, solicit the comments and suggestions of the CPPCC National Committee, strive to do solid work, carry out all fiscal and budgetary work to good effect, promote steady and healthy economic development and social harmony and stability, and greet the CPC' s 19th National Congress with outstanding achievements.