China News Service:

I'd like to hear about the stories behind this year's Report on the Work of the Government. In particular, is there anything different in the drafting process compared with before? Thanks. 

Huang Shouhong:

Year after year, the flowers are always alike, but people are not the same. Such is the case with this year's report. The drafting of the Report on the Work of the Government is a hard process, especially for this year.

I just provided a brief introduction to this matter earlier. Due to the great changes that happened this year, the drafting of this year's report took quite a long time, which has been rare since the reform and opening-up began. Acting in line with the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee, the draft we see today is quite different in terms of form and content when compared to the report we drafted before the Spring Festival. Some of these parts in the report have been completely changed. In terms of content, you may notice that the word count of this year's report is about 10,400 Chinese characters. It is roughly half the length of the reports issued at the annual sessions in previous years when the word count was around 19,500 Chinese characters. Reports in previous years set the work agenda for the whole year, but this year's work agenda is just for the immediate seven months. As the situation has changed, revisions to the Report on the Work of the Government have increased and many parts of the report have been redrafted.

Take a look at the content of this year's Report on the Work of the Government. In the past, our reports offered an introduction to the major work carried out in the previous year in addition to the progress we made in that year. However, this part was not included in this year's report. Another example is that in previous years, reports included regular work arrangements and projects that need to be continually pushed forward. But this year we lack the length and capacity to provide such content, so we didn't deliberate on these parts. You may notice that this year the part on reviewing work mainly talks about landmark achievements from the previous year, pandemic prevention and control and resumption of work and production during this year. This information is provided in a brief introduction. About the part on reviewing the work: The word count of this part was usually about 4,000 Chinese characters in past reports, which were about 19,500 Chinese characters long in total. But this year, the word count is much lower than it was in previous years. Consider the section on the work agenda. In recent years, we usually used three parts to introduce it; namely, there was a part on reviewing work from the previous year, a part presenting general thoughts and an introduction of major work from the year at hand. This year, considering the present state of affairs, we used a list to introduce the work agenda in an attempt to keep the report concise and highlight the next steps of our work. There are many changes in the report, including changes to the content, form, length and so on.

Some explanation needs to be provided here. We still have many work projects that are in progress, such as work that has been pushed forward in the medical and healthcare sector in recent years. This includes the construction of regional medical centers, reform of public hospitals and regulation of health insurance. Given the limited length of the report, we didn't include such matters in this year's report. This year's report focused on new approaches and new measures for coping with the changing situations. The parts we didn't mention in the report still matter and still require continuous effort from us. It should be made clear that just because certain projects were not included in the report does not mean they will not be carried out. Given this year's situation, the report must focus on the major projects and issues that require urgent concern. This reflects the expectations from all sides of society. Similar requirements were put forward in the process of soliciting public opinions.

For a document such as the Report on the Work of the Government, the shorter the version is, the more difficult it is to draft, because we need to convey massive amounts of information and respond to requirements raised by all parties. According to the procedure, after the Report on the Work of the Government is approved at the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), all the targets and tasks set by it will be subdivided into more specific ones. Meanwhile, more policies and measures that weren't made into the original version will also be included. Currently, the State Council has been making plans. I trust that you will witness a series of specific policies issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, which stay on the course charted by the Report on the Work of the Government.

It should be noted that all policies proposed in the Report on the Work of the Government are based on the analysis and judgment on the current situation regarding the spread of the pandemic globally, domestic epidemic prevention and control, and the momentum of economic development. If unexpected changes occur, relative policies "may be adjusted as called for," as mentioned in the Report on the Work of the Government. When we adopt a policy, we should both look ahead into the future and back into the past, taking into account both its effectiveness to address the current significant challenges and its sustainability. Just as a military campaign has to be carefully planned out, we also have a host of plans and measures at our disposal in response to possible crises. We have not fired all our bullets in one battle. There are ample room for future policy options.