Wang Menghui:
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Over the past 70 years since the PRC's founding, and in particular since the 18th CPC National Congress, we have made remarkable achievements in housing and urban and rural construction under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. The achievements mainly cover the following four aspects:
First, we significantly improved the people's housing conditions. Since the PRC's founding 70 years ago, the CPC and the country always attached great importance to people's housing. Through continuous efforts, we basically addressed the housing needs of urban and rural residents in this large country with a population of nearly 1.4 billion. The per capita floor space of urban residents increased from 8.3 square meters in 1949 to 39 square meters in 2018, and that of rural residents increased to 47.3 square meters. We built over 80 million units of government-subsidized housing of various types and housing for people displaced by rebuilding initiatives, helped over 200 million people out of their housing difficulties, and built up the world's largest housing guarantee system.
Second, we pushed forward with urban construction with each passing day. China's process of urbanization created a miracle in the history of the world's urban development. The number of cities in China increased from 132 in 1949 to 672 in 2018, and the country's urbanization rate increased from 10.6% to 59.6%. Since the reform and opening up, up to 96.7% and 98.4% of people in urban areas can now get access to fuel gas and tap water respectively.
Third, we renewed the countryside with a new look. Great changes took place in the countryside since the PRC's founding. Since the 18th CPC National Congress in particular, we supported 17.94 million rural households in renovating their dilapidated houses, and guaranteed the housing security of over seven million registered poor households. We improved the living environment in rural areas by treating rural garbage and sewage. We also mounted our efforts in the protection of traditional villages. With 6,819 villages included in the protection list of traditional Chinese villages, this was the world's largest cluster of agricultural heritage to be protected.
Fourth, we constantly reached new heights in the construction industry. We made continuous technological progress in engineering construction, and built up a large number of world-class major projects, such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and Beijing Daxing International Airport. China's construction industry is rapidly growing more globallyand plays an important role in the construction of the Belt and Road.
At this new historic starting point, we will continue following the guidance of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and promoting the high-quality development of housing and urban and rural construction while staying committed to a people-oriented philosophy. Thank you.
Xi Yanchun:
Thank you, Mr. Wang. Now let's welcome Mr. Ma who will give us an introduction.
