Read in Chinese

Speakers:

Mr. Tang Dengjie, minister of civil affairs

Mr. Zhan Chengfu, vice minister of civil affairs

Mr. Li Baojun, spokesperson of the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) and director general of the General Office of the MCA

Mr. Liu Xitang, director general of the Department of Social Assistance of the MCA

Mr. Yu Jianliang, director general of the Department of Elderly Service of the MCA

Chairperson:

Mr. Chen Wenjun, director general of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and spokesperson of the SCIO

Date:

Sept. 12, 2023

Chen Wenjun:

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the State Council Information Office (SCIO). This is the 24th briefing in the series "Embarking on the New Journey — A Government Perspective." Today, we have invited Mr. Tang Dengjie, minister of civil affairs, to brief you on promoting the high-quality development of civil affairs work, and to take your questions. Also present today are Mr. Zhan Chengfu, vice minister of civil affairs; Mr. Li Baojun, spokesperson of the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) and director general of the General Office of the MCA; Mr. Liu Xitang, director general of the Department of Social Assistance of the MCA; and Mr. Yu Jianliang, director general of the Department of Elderly Service of the MCA.

Now, I'll give the floor to Mr. Tang for his introduction.

Tang Dengjie:

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, my colleagues and I are very glad to meet you today and share with you the MCA's work in the first year of fully implementing the guiding principles of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). First, on behalf of the MCA, I'd like to express my sincere gratitude to you for your continued care and support for the civil affairs work. 

Civil affairs work relates to people's livelihoods and resonates with their sentiments. It ensures that public services can secure the basic living standards of those most in need and meet essential needs. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to civil affairs work, and the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have made a series of important deployments. As a result, historic achievements and transformations have been secured in the undertaking of civil affairs, greatly contributing to the nation's reform, development and stability.

The 20th CPC National Congress drew up an inspiring blueprint of building China into a modern socialist country in all respects, made the deployment of advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, and set up the major tasks of improving the people's well-being and raising their quality of life. The civil affairs departments hence undertake such glorious responsibilities and missions along the new journey toward building a stronger nation and realizing national rejuvenation. Since the beginning of this year, all levels of civil affairs departments have thoroughly implemented the decisions and deployments made by the 20th CPC National Congress, and held themed educational activities for the in-depth study and implementation of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. In accordance with the general requirements of studying the Thought, enhancing Party consciousness, emphasizing practices and making new achievements, the civil affairs authorities have strived to forge inner strength, enhance intelligence, improve conduct and advance their work through learning, so as to break new ground on the new journey toward the high-quality development of civil affairs work in the new era. Our work is reflected in the following respects:

We have earnestly fulfilled our responsibilities of ensuring the basic living standards of extremely vulnerable groups, and continued to improve people's well-being and promote common prosperity. We have borne in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping's expectations of "giving special attention, care and support to extremely vulnerable groups," and upheld the principles of meeting basic needs, helping those most in need, providing timely help to those in urgent need and ensuring sustainability. We have continued to improve the multi-tiered and categorized social assistance system that prioritizes basic living assistance, targeted social assistance and emergency social relief and is supplemented by social assistance forces, with the aim of ensuring the basic livelihoods of extremely vulnerable groups. This year, we have focused on expanding the reach of the subsistence allowance policy and bolstering support for those just outside the margin of eligibility and those facing expenditure-related hardship. We have advanced the provision of local temporary relief for people with urgent or special needs, established effective mechanisms for coordinating government assistance and charitable support, and promoted a holistic assistance approach that combines material aid with services. We have improved measures to support orphans and de facto orphans, and enhanced the service capabilities of child welfare institutions. We have strengthened targeted management in providing living allowances for people with disabilities in need and paying nursing costs for people with severe disabilities. Through a multi-pronged approach and strengthened accountability, we have woven a tight and robust safety net to provide a cushion for those most in need.

We have thoroughly implemented a proactive national strategy in response to population aging and strived to develop elderly care programs and services to improve the quality of life for elderly people. At the 20th CPC National Congress, major plans were made for pursuing a proactive national strategy in response to population aging and making basic elderly care available to the entire elderly population. This year, the reform of Party and state institutions has strengthened the MCA's responsibilities for coordinating, supervising, guiding, organizing, and promoting elderly care work. The civil affairs authorities at all levels have fully implemented the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and focused their work on meeting elderly people's needs for basic elderly care. We have accelerated the establishment of a sustainable basic elderly care system that covers the entire elderly population, with clearly defined rights and responsibilities and appropriate levels of support so as to ensure a stronger sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security for our elderly people. This year, our focus is on the implementation of institutional reform plans. We have improved the systems and mechanisms for elderly care work, guided all localities to formulate and improve a list of basic elderly care services, and supported all localities in improving at-home and community elderly care services. We have also carried out age-friendly home renovation projects for elderly people with special difficulties, guided and supported elderly care institutions to increase their supply of nursing beds, formulated policies and measures to develop elderly care services in rural areas, and stepped up training of elderly care personnel.

We have actively improved social governance and public services involving civil affairs work to better serve high-quality development. In terms of social organization management, we have continued improving a system to support, guide, supervise, and manage social organizations. We provided guidance for social organizations to pair up with and provide support for 160 key counties that were designated to receive assistance for rural revitalization and provide support for the employment of college graduates. Also, we encouraged industry associations and chambers of commerce at all levels to ease burdens on enterprises, launched special actions to crack down on illegal social organizations, and further leveraged the active role of social organizations in serving the people, enterprises, industries, and society. In terms of the development of charity, we held the 12th China Charity Awards ceremony, improved policies and measures to promote the development of public interest activities and charity, and provided guidance for more enterprises, social organizations, and individuals who have the desire and ability to participate in charitable and public-interest initiatives. In terms of public services, we actively streamlined and improved the government review and approval process as well as related procedures, expanded pilot programs for inter-provincial marriage registration, carried out actions to manage rural geographical names, and ensured more government services are handled at one-stop service locations, accessible online, or via cellphone applications so as to bring more convenience and benefit to the people and enterprises.

On the new journey, the civil affairs authorities at all levels will resolutely advocate the establishment of both Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and firmly uphold Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and uphold the Party Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership. We will enhance cohesion and forge inner strength with Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and fully implement the guiding principles of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on civil affairs work and the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. Always keeping the country's most fundamental interests in mind, we will pursue the high-quality development of civil affairs work and make our contribution to building a modern socialist country in all respects.

That concludes my introduction to our civil affairs work. Next, my colleagues and I are happy to communicate with you and answer your questions. Thank you.

Chen Wenjun:

Thank you, Mr. Tang. Now, you are welcome to raise questions. Please identify the news organization you represent before asking your questions.