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Speakers:

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. Chen Yueliang, director general of the Department of Local Government Development and Community Governance of the MCA

Mr. Li Banghua, senior official of the Department of Elderly Service of the MCA

Chairperson:

Ms. Shou Xiaoli, spokesperson of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC)

Date:

Sept. 8, 2022

Shou Xiaoli:

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee. Today, we are holding the 28th press conference under the theme of “China in the past decade.” We have invited Mr. Zhan Chengfu, vice minister of civil affairs, to brief you on the country's civil affairs in the new era and take your questions. Also joining us today are 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. Chen Yueliang, director general of the Department of Local Government Development and Community Governance of the MCA; and Mr. Li Banghua, a senior official of the Department of Elderly Service of the MCA.

Now, let's give the floor to Mr. Zhan Chengfu for his introduction.

Zhan Chengfu:

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the press, good morning. I am very pleased to brief you, along with my colleagues, on the country's civil affairs over the past decade since the 18th CPC National Congress.

As we all know, civil affairs concerns people's livelihood, is critical for the people and is the basic and fundamental work for social development. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, civil affairs departments at all levels have followed the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, remained committed to making people's lives better, and made continuous efforts in ensuring basic livelihoods, community-level social governance and basic social services with a focus on poverty alleviation, groups with special needs and people's concerns. Through vital efforts, the past decade has witnessed glorious achievements and landmark development, which can be reflected in the following three aspects.

First, ensuring the basic needs of the people has reached a new level, helping groups with special difficulties enter a moderately prosperous society in all respects along with the rest of the nation.

Over the past decade, the social assistance system with Chinese characteristics has basically taken shape. Every year on average, the system provides support for more than 40 million people on subsistence allowances, nearly 5 million people living in extreme poverty, about 10 million people in need of temporary assistance, and more than 2.3 million times to homeless people and beggars.

We have successfully provided support for those unable to shake off poverty through their own efforts while alleviating poverty, lifting 19.36 million registered poor people out of poverty. At the same time, we have constantly improved the mechanism linking price subsidies with price changes, expanded the scope of the subsistence allowance scheme, and dynamically tracked more than 62 million low-income people to provide them with regular assistance and support. By doing so, we have consolidated and expanded the achievements in providing subsistence allowances for those unable to shake off poverty through their own efforts, and aligned such efforts with endeavors to promote rural revitalization in an effective and orderly manner.

Over the past decade, the standard of ensuring the basic needs of people has been constantly increased. From 2012 to 2021, the average subsistence allowances for urban and rural residents nationwide increased by 1.2 times and 2.1 times, respectively. The basic living standard of people in extreme poverty has been 1.3 times or more the standard of local subsistence allowances. The average monthly allowances for orphans in welfare institutions and families that provide temporary care have reached 1,728 and 1,288 yuan per person, up by 77.9% and 83.1% from 2012, respectively.

Over the past decade, the coverage of ensuring basic livelihood has been constantly expanded. De facto orphans have been covered in a support system. A care and service system for the elderly, women and children left behind in rural areas has been established, and a protection system for minors has been set up. A system has been built to provide living allowances for people with disabilities and difficulties, and nursing subsidies for people with severe disabilities, benefiting nearly 20 million disabled people every year.

Charity has thrived over the past decade. Charitable donations exceeded 200 billion yuan in 2020, and 1.86 trillion yuan of welfare lottery were issued between 2012 and 2021, raising 540.8 billion yuan of public welfare lottery funds in total.

Second, solid progress has been made in community-level social governance, helping sustain long-term social stability.

Over the past decade, the system of community-level self-governance under the leadership of Party organizations has become more mature and stable. The channels of community-level democracy have been constantly expanded, forms increasingly diversified, and efficacy continuously improved, which has played a unique and critical role in developing China's whole-process people's democracy.

We have made continuous innovations in urban and rural community governance and strengthened community services. All urban communities and 79.5% of rural communities have been equipped with comprehensive service facilities. More than 4 million community workers have played an important role in serving the people, especially in preventing and controlling COVID-19 over the past three years.

We have strengthened efforts to improve social organizations and promoted their Party building. We have completed the reform of delinking industry associations and chambers of commerce from government as scheduled, and cracked down on illegal social organizations in accordance with the law, further improving the environment for social organizations. At present, the number of registered social organizations nationwide has reached 900,000, an increase of 1.7 times over 2012.

We have continued to expand the group of professional social workers, with the number of licensed social workers nationwide reaching 737,000, up by nearly nine times over 2012. There are also more than 1.29 million volunteer teams, with 220 million registered volunteers, accounting for 15.9% of the country's total population.

Third, basic social services have developed at a faster pace, contributing to the increasing improvement in people's living standards. 

Over the past decade, we have improved and coordinated domestic, community and institutional elderly care services to meet different medical and health care needs. Up to now, there are 360,000 various elderly care service institutions and more than 8.12 million beds across the country, with the number of beds nearly twice that of 2012. We have continued to improve systems for delivering old-age allowances, service subsidies for elderly people, nursing subsidies for elderly people who cannot perform essential self-care, and general subsidies, benefiting nearly 37 million elderly people.

We have abolished marriage registration fees in an all-around way and launched a pilot project for interprovincial marriage registration to contribute to family harmony and happiness.

We have carried out policy upgrading services for funerals and worked hard to address the pressing difficulties and problems of the greatest concern to the people in funeral-related affairs.

We have formulated and promulgated regulations on administrative divisions, revised and issued regulations on geographical names, coordinated and promoted major administrative division adjustments, and provided geographical names to society as one of the public services.

Looking back on the past decade, we are delighted to see encouraging historical changes and sounder prospects for the undertaking of civil affairs, thanks to the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core and the sound guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

We should acquire a deep understanding of the decisive significance of the establishment of both Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the CPC 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. We should boost our consciousness of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership. We should stay confident in the path, the theory, the system, and the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We should firmly uphold Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the CPC Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and uphold the Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership. 

Marching on the new journey in the new era, civil affairs departments at all levels will better perform their responsibilities to ensure people's basic living needs, improve social governance at the primary level, and provide basic social services. We will take stronger measures to work away at issue by issue, year in and year out, to see that our people will always have a strong sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security. With such efforts in civil affairs undertakings, we will make new, greater contributions to fully building a modern socialist country and realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

Next, my colleagues and I will answer your questions.

Shou Xiaoli:

Now, the floor is open to questions. Please identify the media outlet you represent before asking questions.

CNR:

The Party and the country have always attached great importance to people's basic living needs and social assistance. What achievements has the MCA made in improving the social assistance system and ensuring and improving the basic living of people with difficulties? Going forward, what arrangements will the MCA make?

Zhan Chengfu:

This topic is of great concern to reporters at this press conference and also to the whole society. Today, Mr. Liu Xitang, head of the Department of Social Assistance of the MCA, is here at the conference and I would like to invite him to answer your questions.

Liu Xitang:

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the MCA has thoroughly implemented the guiding principles of the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee. The MCA has also worked with relevant departments to comprehensively implement various social assistance policies and made historic achievements.

First, a basic social assistance system with Chinese characteristics has been established. The system's main provisions are basic living assistance, special assistance, and emergency social relief assistance, supplemented by public participation. It covers all assistance forces by integrating urban and rural endeavors in a tiered, classified, comprehensive and highly efficient manner. The two basic living assistance systems, which target people living on subsistence allowances or in extreme poverty, have matured. Special assistance systems covering medical, education, housing, employment and disaster relief, have offered timely help to people in need. Emergency social relief assistance such as temporary assistance and assistance for beggars and the homeless have also aided people in temporary difficulties. It can be said that the living difficulties of both urban and rural residents can all be addressed by corresponding systems.

Second, an institutional guarantee has been offered to ensure that all members of disadvantaged groups have their basic living needs met. The subsistence allowance system we are familiar with is the primary institutional arrangement to provide for the basic needs of people of disadvantaged groups. The subsistence allowance system has become more mature, standardized, inclusive and considerate in determining eligibility, income accounting, business process, fund distribution and dynamic management. For instance, the subsistence allowance scheme has expanded its scope to include people with serious illness or severe disability from families just outside the margin of eligibility. It has also added regulations on employment cost deduction and allowed a "grace period" for previously impoverished people. The extreme poverty relief system has integrated another two assistance systems into a basic living assistance system which runs in parallel with the subsistence allowance system. The two assistance systems mentioned above include one for helping urban residents who are incapable of work, have no source of income, and have no legal supporters, and another for assisting rural residents with guarantees for food, clothing, medical care, housing and burial expenses. The temporary assistance system has focused on addressing the urgent needs of people in difficulties, providing solutions to emergencies and pressing problems that affect people's basic living. In 2021, more than 46.8 million people living with difficulties were included in the subsistence allowance or extreme poverty relief system, and 11.986 million people received temporary assistance throughout the year. These figures are dynamic and change from year to year.

Third, social assistance has achieved leapfrog growth. In addition to the changes in the subsistence allowances over the past decade introduced by Mr. Zhan, I would like to sketch another piece of data. Over the past 10 years, governments at all levels have spent 2.04 trillion yuan on basic living allowances and subsidies, effectively guaranteeing the basic needs of people of disadvantaged groups. Subsistence and other allowances were given out in full and in a timely manner.

Fourth, it has played an essential role in winning the battle against poverty and building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. When we fought against poverty, 19.36 million registered impoverished people received subsistence allowances or extreme poverty aid, accounting for 19.6% of the population lifted out of poverty. After winning the battle against poverty, we continued to consolidate the results of poverty alleviation. We provided 2.77 million people with subsistence allowances and extreme poverty aid, including those who have just emerged from poverty but whose position is far from secure, those on the verge of poverty who can easily fall back, and those experiencing difficulties in meeting their basic needs due to sudden events. 

Fifth, we have implemented dynamic monitoring of the low-income population. The MCA has established a national low-income population dynamic monitoring platform, which collects basic information on more than 62 million low-income people, or about 4.4% of the country's total population. At the same time, with relevant departments, we have improved the tiered and classified aid mechanism and carried out targeted assistance to ensure that various aid policies are focused and timely.

Next, following the requirements of system integration, coordination and ensuring efficiency, we will continue to deepen the reform of the social assistance system, expand the application of the dynamic monitoring information platform for low-income populations, innovate and optimize assistance services, and further foster a “safety net” meeting people's basic living needs. Thank you.

CCTV:

Improving the social welfare system with a focus on the elderly, children and people with disabilities, is crucial for the well-being of society. Over the years, what progress has been made by the MCA in this regard?

Zhan Chengfu:

Social welfare and building the social welfare system are issues of great concern to society. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the MCA has done much work in this regard. Next, I would like to invite Mr. Li Baojun, MCA spokesperson and director of the general office of the MCA, to give you a detailed introduction.

Li Baojun:

Thanks for this reporter's question. Social welfare is an important institutional arrangement to improve people's well-being. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has given important instructions on many occasions. He has stressed acting on the people-centered philosophy of development, speeding up the improvement of the care and service system for the elderly, improving the social welfare system for the persons with disabilities and orphans, and addressing weaknesses in social welfare in rural areas. Civil affairs departments at all levels have conscientiously implemented the important instructions made by General Secretary Xi Jinping and the decisions and deployment of the Party Central Committee and promoted the development of social welfare to a new level.

First, we have continued to improve the welfare of the elderly. Old-age allowances, service subsidies for the elderly with financial difficulties, and nursing subsidies for the elderly people with disabilities are ensured at the provincial level nationwide, now benefiting 30.695 million, 4.479 million and 789,000 seniors, respectively. Moreover, 702,000 seniors have received comprehensive subsidies. Greater efforts have been made to ensure the basic needs of poor elderly people, and we have promptly brought the poor population of advanced age and incapacitated seniors in rural areas within the scope of subsistence allowances. Up to now, 14.2 million elderly people have received urban and rural subsistence allowances and 3.717 million elderly people have received extreme poverty aid, which ensures the support and assistance to everyone who needs it. We have deepened the reform of public care institutions for the elderly, vigorously developed at-home and community-based elderly care, and focused on providing services for economically disadvantaged elderly people, and those with disabilities . We have established and improved the system to support and care for the elderly left behind by their families in the countryside after their grown-up children have moved to the cities in search of employment. We have strengthened care for the elderly living alone and left behind in rural areas and helped them lead happy lives in old age. 

Second, we have deepened and expanded the welfare of children. We have gradually improved the basic living standards of orphans. Up to now, 169,000 orphans have been raised across the country, and the monthly allowance for orphans in welfare institutions and families that provide temporary care totals 1,728 yuan and 1,288 yuan per person, respectively, an increase of 77.9% and 83.1%, respectively over 2012. The Tomorrow Plan for Rehabilitation of Orphans with Disabilities has been launched, benefiting nearly 223,000 orphans. A program to support school education for orphans enabled more than 80,000 people to realize their dreams of receiving a university education. Efforts have been made to nurture orphans better. We have formulated and implemented the Measures on the Management of Child Welfare Institutions and promoted the optimization, innovation, transformation and high-quality development of child welfare institutions. We have actively explored expanding the scope of protection, bringing 340,000 de facto orphans into the coverage of state support and including rural left-behind children and children in need into the system of care and services. Up to now, there are 55,000 child welfare supervisors and 667,000 child welfare directors across the country to provide children with regular care services.

Third, the welfare of people with disabilities has been improved. The subsidy system to provide for the living expenses of disabled people in need and to pay the nursing costs of people with severe disabilities has been established. The dynamic mechanism of adjusting standards for subsidies has been developed, and all the services can be accessed on an inter-provincial basis and via the internet. So far, these two subsidies have benefited 11.81 million disabled people in need and 15.32 million people with severe disabilities. The development of the industry of rehabilitation assistive devices has been accelerated. We have piloted comprehensive innovation in the industry of rehabilitation assistive devices and community-based lease services. From 2012 to 2021, a total of 143,000 pieces of rehabilitation assistive devices were distributed to disabled people in welfare institutions in the central and western regions through the launch of the “Fukang Project.” The construction of welfare institutions for mental patients has been strengthened, and a total of 6.9 billion yuan has been allocated to build, renovate, and expand mental health welfare institutions. We have promoted community-based rehabilitation services for people with mental illnesses through services purchased by the government and guided the places where the conditions permit to provide centralized or commercial nursing care services for disabled people in need and people with severe disabilities, increasing the sense of fulfillment and happiness of disabled people and their families.

Next, the departments of civil affairs will fully grasp and put into practice the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the decisions and plans of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, continue to improve systems, strengthen services, and raise the standards of our work, and develop a social welfare system compatible with economic and social development so as to provide strong support for groups with special difficulties to share the fruits of reform and development and achieve common prosperity.

Thank you.

China News Service:

Social groups and charities are important forces different from the market and government. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, social organizations and charities have thrived and played an active role in poverty alleviation, prevention and control of the pandemic, and emergency rescue and disaster relief. Can you introduce more about that? Thank you.

Zhan Chengfu:

I will take this question.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, social groups and charities in China have made historic achievements and undergone historic changes, which can be mainly demonstrated in the following aspects.

First, the Party's overall leadership over social groups and charities has been strengthened. Over the past decade, the function of the Party organization in social groups has been further clarified, and the working institutions and mechanisms of Party building have been improved. By the end of last year, there were a total of 171,000 community-level Party organizations in social groups. Upholding the Party's leadership and the Core Socialist Values have been generally incorporated into the charters of social groups. It has become commonplace for the heads of social groups and the heads of party organizations to enter each other's organizations and take rotating posts.

Second, the environment for the development of social groups and charities has been continuously optimized. Over the past decade, China has formulated laws and regulations such as the Charity Law, the Civil Code, and the Regulation on Volunteer Services. Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Social Groups, Regulations on Administration of Foundations, Provisional Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Non-Governmental Nonprofit Units are being revised and improved. The government has continued to improve a series of policies regarding the qualification of the tax-exempt status of nonprofit organizations, pre-tax deduction for charitable donations, donation of equity shares to public welfare organizations, tax exemption for membership fees of social groups, and the use of donation bills. The central government has allocated special funds to support social groups to carry out social services for many years. The State Council has clearly stipulated that opinions of industry associations and chambers of commerce should be fully solicited when formulating administrative regulations and normative documents of government. All these have contributed to fostering a sound environment for social groups to survive and thrive, especially charity organizations.

Third, social groups and charities have been rejuvenated with vigor and vitality. Over the past decade, 729 national industry associations and chambers of commerce and 69,699 local industry associations and chambers of commerce have been delinked from administrative organs. We have developed a large number of community-based social groups featuring direct participation of ordinary people. Internet-based charity has been thriving, with an annual growth rate of over 20% in donations raised online. 

Fourth, the stage for social groups and charities to play their roles has become broader. The past decade has witnessed the most rapid development of social groups. At present, social groups registered have reached 900,000, which is 20,000 times the number in the early days of the founding of the PRC and 150 times that in the early days of reform and opening up if we compare the data. There are over 10,000 charity organizations registered in China at present. In 2020, charitable donations in China exceeded 200 billion yuan, an increase of 155% from 2012. Especially since the 18th CPC National Congress, social groups and charities of all types have been widely engaged in poverty alleviation. They have implemented over 92,000 poverty relief projects according to primary statistics and guided the investment of 124.5 billion yuan from all kinds of funds. Social groups have taken actions to maintain the market order for fair competition, participating in the formulation of 2,499 national standards and 364 international standards. At current, private nonprofit elderly care institutions account for 44.7% of the elderly care institutions nationwide. That number is large, and the multi-level and multi-faceted needs of the people have been effectively met.

In the final analysis, over the past decade, achievements in the development of social groups and charities can be attributed to the successful development of a path with Chinese characteristics for the growth of social organizations. We will continue to go down this path and we believe that the path will be wider and wider. Thank you.

People.cn:

In recent years, the MCA has planned and implemented plenty of reforms and innovative measures, such as marriage registration service provided on a cross-provincial basis and reforms of wedding customs, which have won great popularity. My question is, since the 18th CPC National Congress, what breakthroughs have been made in furthering reforms by the MCA. Thanks. 

Zhan Chengfu:

Thank you for your question. The reform of wedding customs has attracted attention from the whole society. I am in charge of this area of work, and will give some additional details. 

Getting married should be a wonderful and happy thing, but in some places, it becomes a burden on individuals because of some issues and unhealthy phenomena such as high-price betrothal gifts for brides, high-profile weddings, vulgarly teasing the bride and bridegroom, and presenting a gift of a large amount of money for a wedding. A joyful occasion becomes vexatious. People expect that we can retrieve the unhealthy situation and change malpractice in wedding customs. Since 2018, the MCA has put the reform of wedding customs high on the agenda, and in April and September 2021, respectively, set up 32 reform pilot zones in two batches throughout the country. Some local pilot zones have also been set up in provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, according to actual conditions. So far, the following aspects have taken effect.  

First, we have controlled undesirable customs such as high-price betrothal gifts. In some pilot zones, publicity has been intensified to enhance the public's awareness of the hazards of unhealthy customs, such as high-price betrothal presents and high-profile weddings. Particular cases have been used to explain the related laws and regulations. In some pilot zones, relevant rules and regulations have been rolled out. In some pilot zones, mass weddings play a demonstrative role.  In other pilot zones, high-price betrothal gifts are regulated through formulating codes of conduct for rual and urban residents. 

Second, we have advocated for healthy and harmonious family traditions. Many pilot zones have adopted various approaches to pass on and spread good family education and family tradition for people to follow. 

Third, we have strengthened marriage and family counseling services. I want to inform you of some data. At present, more than 75% of county-level marriage registration offices have set up marriage counseling rooms. With the support of administrative bodies, counseling services can make marriages more harmonious and satisfying. 

So far, the reforms in various pilot zones have been effective and received positive comments from the society. Unhealthy customs such as high-price betrothal gifts and high-profile weddings have been effectively reined in. From the perspective of civil affairs, there is a lot marriage-related work to do. For instance, we have pushed marriage registration services forward in recent years, providing them on a cross-provincial basis and piloting the measures in seven provinces, and receiving positive reviews from the public. In the next phase, we will expand the scope of this reform to benefit more people. We will intensify efforts to build more marriage registration facilities and infrastructure, advance the level of digitalization for marriage registrations, and convert all marriage registration information taken since the founding of the People's Republic of China to digital records. The scope of pilot reforms will continue to expand. We will speed up the process and enable the results of marriage registration reforms to benefit more people.  

Thank you.

Li Baojun:

There is something else I wanted to add. The reforms boost the quality development of civil affairs initiatives in the new era. General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized that reforms should be furthered comprehensively, collaboratively, and efficiently, giving top priority to the reforms enabling people to enjoy a stronger sense of gain. In addition, the civil affairs authorities are required to continue reform and innovation and better perform duties. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, civil affairs authorities at all levels have put into effect the important expositions by General Secretary Xi Jinping on deepening reform in all respects, thoroughly implement the decisions and plans made by the Party Central Committee , and continue to integrate improving institutional top-level design with solving the pressing difficulties and problems that are of the greatest concern to the people. Notable results have been achieved in the following three aspects.  

First, we have set up a pertinent institutional framework to guide civil affairs work. The past decade has seen China's National People's Congress (NPC) and its Standing Committee formulate or revise nine laws in the area of civil affairs, including the Charity Law. The State Council formulated and revised seven sets of administrative regulations in the area. The number of documents that were submitted to the CPC Central Committee and the State Council for approval reached 13 and 19, respectively. More than 100 documents have been formulated by reforming and innovating values, and seven cross-department joint conference mechanisms have been established. We have made efforts to improve social assistance, building a system that coordinates urban and rural resources and provides subsistence allowances, assistance and support for severely impoverished people, disaster relief, medical assistance, education assistance, housing assistance, employment assistance, and temporary assistance, while being supplemented by public participation. Moreover, we have improved the top-level design to promote the modernization of community-level governance system and capabilities, strengthen government service capabilities at town and township levels, and reform and refine the systems for regulating social organizations. We have promoted the establishment of a system providing basic elderly care services for all senior citizens. Relevant laws and regulations have been formulated and improved for regulating administrative division and geographical names. Institutions and laws relating to the development of civil affairs initiatives have been improved in the new era under the leadership of the CPC.

Second, we have followed the problem-oriented approach to address people's concerns in a timely manner. Over the past 10 years, by focusing on people's major concerns, we have carried out over 10 special campaigns such as improving the service in nursing homes around the country, cracking down on fraud in elderly care, undertaking an overhaul on illegal social organizations, addressing the imposition of arbitrary charges by associations and business chambers, regulating rural subsistence allowances, and addressing problems in funeral services. We have followed the principle of addressing overall problems while focusing on certain areas, and mobilized efforts to solve problems that harmed people's interests. With focus on the universal, fundamental, and deep-seated problems, we have adhered to the principle of addressing both their symptoms and root causes, and accelerated the building of major regulatory systems that could help strengthen the weaknesses, fill gaps, and step up oversight, so that various policy measures can bring benefits to the people.

Third, we have adhered to the innovation-driven approach to constantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our services. Just now, Mr. Zhan introduced the reform in marriage customs. Over the past 10 years, we have also launched a series of pilot reform programs in terms of community governance services, home-based and community-based elderly care services, and rehabilitative and assistive equipment sectors. In addition, we have comprehensively promoted the development of community workers' stations in townships, continuously optimized the "internet + civil affairs services," guided local authorities to deepen their reforms to streamline administration, delegate powers, improve regulation, and strengthen services in civil affairs, and explored the implementation of innovative reforms such as decentralizing the power of verification and confirmation of the subsistence allowances, and implementing temporary relief measures directly offered by the place where emergencies occur. We have also strengthened the application of new technologies and new means to comprehensively improve civil administration and to ensure that people can enjoy tangible benefits of our civil services.

Looking forward, we will continue to uphold Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, conscientiously implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on civil affairs, follow the people-centered philosophy, continuously deepen innovative reforms to better fulfill our missions and tasks in civil affairs on the new journey, advance the high-quality development of our civil affairs work, and make new contributions to the building of a modern socialist country in all respects. Thank you.

Beijing Youth Daily:

General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached much importance to the prosperity and stability at the grassroots level. Over the past 10 years, what progress has the MCA achieved in consolidating local government development and making innovations in the governance of urban and rural communities.

Chen Yueliang:

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached much importance to community-level governance. We have made historic achievements in consolidating local government development as well as improving community governance. Community-level democracy continues to advance, and people's sense of achievement, happiness, and security are gradually improving, which helps consolidate the foundation of the CPC governance. It also demonstrates the advantages of our system and the effectiveness of the governance.

First, the Party's leadership is on a more solid footing. The CPC Central Committee has introduced and amended a series of rules and regulations to improve the community-level governance system that is under the full leadership of the Party. We have established a simplified and effective management system under which Party committees exercise leadership and the Party and the government enhance coordination. Up to 95.6% of villages and 93.9% of communities are headed by the same person who serves both the director and the Party secretary of the village or community, up 29.5 and 30.2 percentage points compared to the previous term, with the Party's banner flying high at the community level.

Second, the system of community-level self-governance is more mature. Village committees and neighborhood committees have been given special legal person status, and the term of office of village and neighborhood committees has been extended from three years to five years. Community-level democracy has expanded, ensuring the people's right to engage in democratic elections, consultations, decision-making, management, and oversight. "People's wide participation in their own affairs" has become a distinct feature of the times in which people are the masters of their own country.

Third, the system for community-level self-governance has improved. We have introduced a series of policies to consolidate the modernization of community-level governance. These policies are effective and operable, demonstrating the CPC Central Committee's clear orientation to strengthen the role of communities. The policies have also become pillars of the community-level governance system in the new era.

Fourth, our services have improved. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the coverage of comprehensive service facilities has increased from 82% to 100% in urban communities and from 31.8% to 79.5% in rural communities, up 18 and 47.7 percentage points, respectively. These services have provided more convenience to the public. A sample survey showed that public satisfaction has increased to 87.6%.

Fifth, community-level governance plays a more important role in society. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council continue to delegate powers to lower-level governments, empower them, and reduce their pressure; improve the community-level governance system which combines self-governance, the rule of law, and the rule of virtue; promote urban and rural communities to assume the primary task of social governance; and create a virtuous cycle featuring the unified leadership of the Party, and the benign interaction between government governance, social regulation, and residents' self-governance in the new era. In the fight against poverty, the rural communities tasked with poverty elimination have implemented the Party's policies for the benefit of people, and united and led the people to boost the production and improve their lives. A total of 35,000 communities whose residents were relocated from inhospitable areas have enhanced their capacity of governance, helping over 9.6 million people live a better life. During the country's COVID-19 prevention and control, more than 4 million urban and rural community workers have dedicated themselves to the epidemic response frontline, making communities a bastion of defense against the virus.

Sixth, the team structure has been optimized. Competent officials have been selected to form teams for Party branch committees and residents committees at villages and communities, and the occupational system has been established and improved. The proportion of directors of residents committees at villages and communities with junior college education or above accounted for 46.4% and 82.6%, respectively. Young age, high education, and strong ability have become the background features of urban and rural community workers in the new era. Eight of the 29 comrades awarded the July 1 Medal by the CPC Central Committee have worked in villages or communities for a long time.

Looking back at the past 10 years, the grassroots foundation was very important for China to achieve sustained and rapid economic development and long-term social stability. We are guided by General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on grassroots governance to ensure the correct political direction of grassroots governance. We have the strong leadership of the CPC to ensure that grassroots governance is always stable and far-reaching. We continually improve the grassroots mass autonomy system, mobilize the enthusiasm of the broad masses of the people to the greatest extent, and ensure that the people are the masters of the country. We unswervingly build a solid foundation for urban and rural communities, and always focus on the core work and serve the overall situation. 

Thank you.

Red Star News:

We found that pension frauds are seriously threatening the happiness of the elderly in their later years, so a special campaign was launched to crack down on pension frauds across the country. Could you brief us on the progress of the MCA in rectifying frauds in the field of elderly care services, and in what areas will it continue to make efforts in the next step? Thanks.

Zhan Chengfu:

Thank you for your question. This question is indeed very important, and this work is a key task that our ministry has been focusing on in recent years and has made numerous achievements. Li Banghua, deputy director of endowment services, is an expert in this field. He's here now, so please let him make some professional elaborations.

Li Banghua:

In recent years, some criminals have carried out fraud under the guise of "elderly care," causing economic losses and mental pains to the elderly, and the people's complaints were very strong. The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core pays special attention to the elderly, emphasizing the need to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly and resolutely punish the behaviors of defrauding the elderly in accordance with laws and regulations. In April this year, with the approval of the CPC Central Committee and led by the Peaceful China initiative coordination team, 12 departments jointly launched a nationwide special campaign to crack down on pension fraud, and the MCA is one of them. The MCA is mainly responsible for rectifying fraud-related problems and hidden dangers in the field of elderly care services. At present, the special campaign has been implemented for nearly half a year, and good progress has been made.

First, a comprehensive publicity campaign was launched. In accordance with the general requirements to make efforts in the three fields of publicity and education, crackdowns in accordance with the law, and rectification and regulation, we have launched a complaint and reporting platform, issued a batch of policy guidance books, published a batch of typical cases, and carried out a series of special news reports. Targeting the methods and characteristics of fraud in the field of elderly care services, we have extensively carried out policy publicity and common-sense education on deception and fraud prevention. We conducted publicity and mobilization work, from household to household, from community to community, and placed publicity materials on walls, in the media, and on the internet. It should be said that we have sounded the clarion call to combat fraud in elderly care services. Many local civil affairs departments and elderly care service institutions have also widely mobilized elderly people to participate in fraud prevention publicity, which has enhanced the ability of the elderly to recognize and prevent fraud.

Second, we carried out comprehensive research and investigations. As of the end of August, civil affairs departments at all levels across the country have carried out at least two rounds of surveys. A total of 270,000 elderly care service institutions and venues have been investigated, and 950 institutions and venues with hidden dangers have been identified. Why do we use the word “venue” here? Because there are 576 illegal institutions that are not registered but are engaged in the operation of elderly care services or carry out activities in the name of elderly care services.

Third, we have carried out comprehensive rectification. According to the levels of hidden dangers, civil affairs departments at all levels have established a "red, orange, and yellow" risk and hidden danger management and control list, clarified the timetable and roadmap, and carried out concentrated rectifications in accordance with the requirements of "one case, one policy." At present, of the 950 institutions and venues with hidden risks, a total of 510 have been banned and shut down, 81 have seen cases filed, 48 have been adjudicated, and 91 have been handed over to relevant departments for disposal. The rest are also under screening and investigation. It should be said that the existing hidden risks of fraud in the field of elderly care services are being resolved in an orderly manner.

Going forward, the MCA will further promote this work in accordance with the deployments of the office of special national campaign against pension fraud. On the one hand, we will speed up the clearance of existing risks, and on the other hand, we will strengthen the establishment of rules and regulations to effectively curb incremental risks. In establishing a long-term mechanism, there are also two aspects of the work: first, we will establish a normalized supervision mechanism, strengthen early warning monitoring and coordinated disposal; second, we will focus on prominent risks and hidden dangers, and work with relevant departments to study and standardize the relevant measures of prepayment for elderly care institutions, protect people's pension money, and make elderly care services safer and more secure. Thank you.

CRNTT:

Recently, the MCA, together with relevant departments, has issued a series of measures aimed at making up for the shortcomings of community governance and services, promoting college graduates to seek employment and entrepreneurship at communities, and ensuring community prevention and control of COVID-19. May I ask how to promote the mutual facilitation of these three goals in practice? What are the main directions for the next step?

General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to community work. At every local inspection visit, he would go to villages or communities and give important instructions. This year, the MCA has reported to the CPC Central Committee to issue the Opinions on Regulating the Work of Affairs, Mechanism Brands, and Certification Requirements of Village-level Organizations. Together with relevant departments, the MCA has issued policies and guidelines to further promote the construction of smart communities and taken strong steps to help the employment of college graduates in urban and rural communities in 2022, improve comprehensive service functions at the village level, do a good job in setting up special posts, and formulating guidelines for volunteer work in terms of community epidemic prevention and control. Through these solid measures, the important instructions given by General Secretary Xi Jinping have been implemented steadfastly in guiding all localities to reinforce points of weakness in community governance and services, in building a strong community defensive line against pandemic, and in guiding college graduates to find employment and start businesses at the community level. Since urban and rural community governance is a systematic project, we will work in concert to step up the connection and mutual promotion between the three goals in the following four aspects.

The first is to stick to regular epidemic prevention and control measures to foster a sound environment. We will accelerate the full coverage of the public health committee mechanism under the urban residents committees and villagers committees, improve the community COVID-19 prevention and control network, and build phase-based community pandemic prevention and control teams in order to strengthen related workforce and emergency capacity building. We will improve the working mechanism involving the switch between emergencies and regular operations, actively mobilize community volunteers to fight against COVID-19, and consolidate the defense line, involving all of society to help contain the virus.

The second is to build professional teams to pursue development. We will standardize the annual recruitment process of community workers to ensure the quality of community workers from the very beginning and encourage college graduates to work in the communities or start businesses there. We will improve the incentive system for community workers and study policies and measures for community team-building exercises together with relevant departments. We will improve the community worker vocational system, establish a post-based remuneration system, enhance the dynamic adjustment mechanism, and increase community worker capabilities and training systems to continuously enhance the professional level of community workers.

The third is to strengthen weak links by improving village-level comprehensive service capabilities. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, great progress has been made in the construction of the rural community service system. However, rural areas still lag behind in this regard. We will focus on issues of the utmost and immediate concern to the people's well-being and improve the service capabilities of villages, further improve the functions of basic public service needs, promote equal access to basic public services, enrich and diversify the supply of services concerning daily life, so as to secure people's basic living needs in rural areas, meet the new needs of villagers' daily lives, and boost rural revitalization and common prosperity.

The fourth is to improve efficiency through information technology. We will accelerate the construction of smart communities and create a new model of community governance services based on digitalization and intelligence. We should strengthen the construction and transformation of smart community infrastructure, focus on building a smart community comprehensive information platform, expand smart community governance scenarios, and map out the building of a community of digital life. We will also promote the application of big data in the communities, streamline and consolidate community data recording, and make full use of big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and other information technology methods to integrate various service resources in the communities as well as help community epidemic prevention and control and community governance services.

We have also seen that the modernization of urban and rural primary-level governance has always been progressing. In the next step, together with relevant departments, we will continue to channel resources, management, and services down to the community level and continuously promote the modernization of primary-level governance systems and governance capabilities to empower, improve quality, ease burdens, and increase efficiency for communities. Thank you.

Cover News:

The General Offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Opinions on Reforming and Improving the Social Assistance System in 2020. What achievements have been made in this regard since then? What measures have been taken due to the impact of COVID-19? What considerations will come next? Thank you.

Liu Xitang:

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, two regulations have significantly impacted the development of social assistance. One is the Interim Measures for Social Assistance, promulgated and implemented in 2014. The other is the Opinions on Reforming and Improving the Social Assistance System, issued by the General Offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council in 2020. Since then, the MCA, together with other departments, has implemented the requirements for reforming and improving relevant systems and achieved good results, which greatly enhanced the inclusiveness, accessibility, convenience and accuracy of social assistance.

First, policies and systems have become more rational. Accordingly, we have adjusted and optimized the social assistance policies on subsistence allowances, extreme poverty aid and temporary assistance. The scope of the subsistence allowance scheme was expanded to include individuals with serious illness or severe disability from families just outside the margin of eligibility. The subsistence allowance system covers both households and individuals that need help, providing more people-oriented services. We have relaxed the criteria of extreme poverty and standardized the methods to identify people who are incapable of working. The eligible age of minors covered by the relief scheme for severely impoverished people has been extended from 16 to 18. Moreover, we have implemented the temporary assistance system that allows us to provide assistance first with a small amount, highlighting the function of emergency assistance.

Second, a comprehensive assistance system has basically taken shape. Now, social assistance does not depend on the MCA alone, but is coordinately implemented by all departments. We provide comprehensive assistance of different types at different levels in both urban and rural areas. We have classified the social assistance community into three circles: recipients of subsistence allowances and extreme poverty aid in the core circle, people just outside the margin of eligibility for subsistence allowances and those with basic expenditure difficulties in the second circle, and people who face temporary difficulties in the third circle. We have made multi-pronged efforts with medical care, education, housing, employment and other special social assistance policies. We have established an inter-ministerial joint conference system for national social assistance, set up a coordination mechanism in the county level led by leading government officials to ensure the basic livelihoods of local people living in poverty, and strengthened the coordination of social assistance resources.

Third, the means of verifying the financial conditions of families applying for social assistance is now more scientific. We have adjusted and optimized the method of identifying household income and property, further improved the mechanism for checking the financial conditions of families receiving social assistance, and relaxed the frequency of reviewing the financial conditions of those receiving social assistance.

Fourth, social assistance services have become more convenient and efficient. We have delegated powers to review and approve applications for subsistence allowances and extreme poverty aid to sub-districts and townships, and established a comprehensive service mechanism where applications are processed at a one-stop service counter and coordinated across all departments. We have also allocated temporary assistance reserve funds to sub-districts and townships, required civil affairs departments at all levels to set up hotlines for social assistance services, and established a mechanism to proactively identify those eligible people who are incapable of applying for social assistance by themselves. More and more regions are providing specific services, like allowing people to apply for subsistence allowances directly on their cellphones. These changes have helped to make our social assistance policies more accessible to people in need.

You also mentioned the issue of ensuring the basic needs of people in difficulty during the epidemic. In response to that, the MCA, together with other departments, has implemented the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee, adjusted policies in a timely manner, and issued several emergency response measures. For example, we granted a lump sum of one-time temporary assistance for people facing difficulties but without unemployment insurance. We provided one-time living allowances to people in need, including subsistence allowance recipients and people with special difficulties. We instituted a mechanism to increase social security assistance and benefit payments in step with price rises, expanded assistance coverage for the current period, and lowered the eligibility requirements. Moreover, we provided temporary assistance to people with urgent or special needs that do not hold local residency. All these measures have achieved excellent results in ensuring the basic needs of those struggling due to COVID-19.

Social assistance is the basic system for ensuring people's basic well-being, promoting social equity and maintaining social stability. Going forward, the MCA will fully enforce the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, continue to deepen the reform of the social assistance system, and improve the mechanism to accurately identify people in need. We will innovate and optimize assistance services to make social assistance more law-based, specialized, information-based, and targeted. We will strive to bring a stronger sense of fulfillment, happiness and security to people in difficulty.

Tianmu News:

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that it is a matter of social harmony and stability to ensure care, support, recreation, and security for the elderly. What measures has the MCA adopted to improve the elderly care system since the 18th CPC National Congress? What are the subsequent arrangements? Thank you. 

Zhan Chengfu:

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the MCA has made great efforts to improve the elderly care service system. We have cracked down on fraud cases related to elder care, and established and improved the elderly care service system, ensuring that the seniors really get to know the accesses and places to obtain such services. I'd like to invite Mr. Li to make a detailed introduction.

Li Banghua:

Thank you for your questions. Mr. Zhan has made a brief introduction to the measures that we've adopted. The elderly care issue is something people are really concerned about, as we all have older adults as family members, and everyone gets old. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has made an important deployment to boost the elderly care service sector and establish an elderly care service system with Chinese characteristics. General Secretary Xi Jinping has made important instructions on the work regarding elderly care services on various occasions. Recently, General Secretary Xi Jinping made some important instructions on the aging issue and elderly care services during his inspection in Liaoning province. The MCA, working with the relevant departments, has ramped up efforts to implement the deployments and promote the progress of the elderly care service system with Chinese characteristics in the new era. Remarkable achievements have been made in the following five aspects:

First, the institutional framework for elderly care services has been constantly improved. Over the past decade, the Standing Committee of the NPC has amended the Law on Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly three times, with the issue regarding elderly care services being part of it every time. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council have released more than 10 sets of policies to promote elderly care services. The MCA has worked with relevant departments to roll out over 90 sets of institutions and set up more than 50 sets of national and industry standards. The elderly care service system has become a crucial part of the national strategy to address an aging population. 

Second, the basic elderly care service system has been continually improved. A total of 14.2 million elderly people have been covered by the subsistence allowances system, and over 3.7 million old adults have received extreme poverty aid. The subsidy system for the poor population of advanced age and incapacitated seniors has been put in place at the provincial level, benefiting nearly 37 million people. We have also stepped up efforts to develop a system to support and care for left-behind elderly people in rural areas.

Third, the supply of elderly care services has increased. There are nearly 360,000 eldercare institutions and facilities across the country, offering over 8.1 million beds, which is almost twice as many as that in 2012. A series of preferential and supporting policies have been released to ensure the supply of the elderly care service, such as land use, tax cuts, and fiscal subsidies. We have made the elderly care services market more market-based. As such, the supply of elderly care services has become diversified.

Fourth, home- and community-based elderly care has witnessed rapid progress. There are 320,000 community-based elderly care service institutions and facilities nationwide, accounting for 88.9% of the country's total number of elderly care service institutions and facilities. New forms of services regarding home- and community-based elderly care have emerged, such as home adaptations, home care beds, regular visiting activities, "time bank," and elderly-targeted restaurants.

Fifth, the quality of the elderly care services has continuously improved. The MCA has worked with relevant departments to launch a four-year special campaign to improve the quality of the elderly care services nationwide, addressing more than 420,000 hidden dangers. We have conducted a series of major projects to begin renovations of the institutions offering extreme poverty aid and ensure that the elderly care institutions will meet all fire safety standards. Thereby, the elderly care services have seen notable progress.

Going forward, the MCA will continue to implement the important instructions made by General Secretary Xi Jinping and the decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council so as to step up efforts in the following four aspects. First, we will promote the legislation for the elderly services to improve the institutional framework of the elderly care services. Second, we will improve the basic elderly care service system to foster a new development paradigm for elderly care services. Third, we will accelerate the development of long-term care services so as to further optimize the supply of services for the old-aged people. Fourth, we will ensure both development and security, and reinforce supervision over elderly care services in a comprehensive manner. All these efforts serve the same purpose, which is to enable elderly people to live happy lives.

Thank you.

Shou Xiaoli:

Thank you to all the speakers and friends from the press. That's all for today's press conference.

Translated and edited by Wang Qian, Xu Xiaoxuan, Zhou Jing, Wang Yanfang, Wang Yiming, Duan Yaying, Liu Sitong, Guo Yiming, Wang Wei, Zhang Rui, Yan Bin, Li Huiru, Dong Qingpei, Gong Yingchun, Yuan Fang, Xu Kailin, David Ball, Jay Birbeck, and Tom Arnstein. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.