Report on the Work of the Guangdong Government

Delivered at the First Session of

the 14th Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress

on January 12, 2023

WANG Weizhong, Governor of Guangdong Province

*The English version of this Report is for reference only.

Fellow Deputies,

On behalf of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Government, I will now report to you on the work of the government for your deliberation and approval. I also invite comments from the members of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and other attendees of the session.

I. Review of the Work over the Past Five Years

The past five years have been truly momentous and extraordinary. General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to Guangdong and keenly supports the development of the province. He has visited the region three times in the past five years and made important remarks and instructions on the work of Guangdong on several occasions. Entrusting Guangdong with great opportunities and missions such as the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Shenzhen Pilot Demonstration Area of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, three major development platforms in Hengqin, Qianhai and Nansha, the comprehensive pilot reforms in Shenzhen, and the GBA talent highland, General Secretary Xi Jinping earnestly hopes that Guangdong will take the lead in China and create new glories in the new journey of building China into a modern socialist country. We kept the entrusted missions and tasks in mind and strode forward with concrete efforts. With the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for A New Era, we fully implemented the guiding principles of the 19th and 20th CPC National Congress, the important remarks and instructions on Guangdong made by General Secretary Xi Jinping, and the decisions of the Party Central Committee and the State Council. Under the strong leadership of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, and under the supervision and support of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress and its Standing Committee and the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPPCC, we steadfastly responded to the changes and COVID-19 epidemic unseen in a century, earnestly implemented the “1+1+9” Work Plan made by the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, eradicated extreme poverty as scheduled and built a moderately prosperous society in all respects with high quality on schedule. We are now forging ahead toward the modernization goals.

Over the past five years, we have insisted on the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, fully and faithfully applied the new development philosophy on all fronts and made headway in creating strategic pillars for the new development pattern, achieving great strides in economic strength. For 2022, Guangdong’s GDP is expected to register 12.8 trillion Yuan, a leap of 3 trillion Yuan in 5 years and an average annual increase of 5%, firmly holding its top place in China for 34 years in a row; the general public budget revenue is expected to reach 1.33 trillion Yuan, and the total value of import and export will hit 8.3 trillion Yuan. The total number of market entities has exceeded 16 million with a net increase of 6.08 million, including more than 7 million enterprises accounting for 1/7 of China’s total and 17 of the world’s top 500 enterprises, an increase of 6 in five years. The ratio of primary industry to secondary industry to tertiary industry has been adjusted to 4.2:41.1:54.7, the share of advanced manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing in industries above the designated scale has increased to 55% and 29.5%, respectively, the added value of the financial industry has reached 1.15 trillion Yuan, and the share of the added value of the modern service in the service industry has reached 65.9%. Guangdong’s economic structure has witnessed continuous optimization with improving development quality and efficiency.

Over the past five years, we have resolutely implemented major national strategies and seized the opportunity to promote the development of the GBA, Shenzhen Pilot Demonstration Area and Hengqin, Qianhai and Nansha platforms. The reform and openingup have unleashed strong vitality. We have successfully implemented the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, witnessed by the completion of the landmark projects such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-speed Railway. We have carried out the Wan Qu Tong Initiative (the GBA Connectivity Initiative) and accelerated the building of the GBA into an international center for technology and innovation. We have developed the top-tier international bay area and world-class city clusters with great vitality. We have fully demonstrated Shenzhen Pilot Demonstration Area’s role as a flagship, with all the first batches of 40 authorized items regarding the comprehensive pilot reforms in Shenzhen launched and 18 pilot experiences popularized nationwide. We have ensured a steady start for the development of the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin and expedited the development of Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone. Nansha has achieved an encouraging beginning in deepening its globally-oriented comprehensive cooperation among Guangdong, and Hong Kong and Macao. Guangdong has taken the lead in reforming the business environment, digital government, factor liberalization and state-owned assets and enterprises, and 41 pieces of reform and innovation experiences have been promoted nationwide. Over the past five years, the actual foreign capital used has amounted to 800 billion Yuan. Foreign-funded projects above 10 billion dollars, such as ExxonMobil and BASF, have settled in Guangdong. Guangdong’s role as “two important windows of China” has been fully demonstrated. 

Over the past five years, we have concentrated efforts for greater self-reliance and strength in propelling high-level scientific and technological strengths. We have made every effort to build a highland for scientific, technological and industrial innovation with global influence, accompanied by new progress in advancing high-quality development. Guangdong hasimplemented six major projects for high-quality development of the manufacturing industry and developed 20 strategic industrial clusters from a high starting point, forming 8 trillion-Yuan-level industrial clusters, including new-generation electronic information, green petrochemicals, intelligent home appliances, advanced materials, modern light industry and textiles, software and information services, modern agriculture and food, and automobiles. Industrial enterprises above the designated scale have reached 67,000, an increase of 20,000 in five years, and high-tech enterprises have reached 69,000, more than doubled in five years. Breakthroughs have been achieved in major basic research projects and R&D plans in key areas, forming a high-level multi-layered laboratory system. We have put into operation two facilities of national importance, namely Peng Cheng Laboratory and Guangzhou National Laboratory. The R&D expenditure of Guangdong has reached 420 billion Yuan, accounting for 3.26% of Guangdong’s GDP. Guangdong has led the nation for six consecutive years in regional comprehensive innovation capacity, ranking first in the volume of R&D personnel, valid patents and PCT applications. Guangdong is growing into a vital source of innovation in China.

Over the past five years, we have paced up to form a regional development pattern of “One Core Region, One Belt and One Area Initiative” based on resource endowments and functional positioning to gain notable enhancement in balanced and coordinated development. The core area of the Pearl River Delta has been upgrading its development level. World-class industrial belts, such as green petrochemical, green steel, ocean engineering equipment and offshore wind power in the coastal economic belt, have taken shape with edges. The green development momentum has emerged in the Northern Ecological Development Zone. Foshan and Dongguan have registered an economic aggregate exceeding 1 trillion Yuan after Guangzhou and Shenzhen, while Shantou and Zhanjiang have expedited the construction as provincial sub-centers. We have commenced construction of major projects, such as the Guangzhou-Zhanjiang High-speed Railway, Guangzhou-Shantou-Shanwei High-speed Railway, Eastern Guangdong Intercity Railway, and Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge. We have completed key infrastructure construction, such as Ganzhou-Shenzhen High-speed Railway and Nansha Bridge. The “3+4+8” world-class airport cluster is taking shape at an accelerated speed. The passenger throughput of airports and the container handling capacity of ports firmly take the top position in China. The total traffic mileage of expressways has reached 11,200 kilometers, ranking first in China for 9 straight years, and the high-speed railway in service has registered 2,367 kilometers, connecting every Guangdong city. We have realized full coverage of undergraduate colleges, higher vocational colleges, technical schools and AAA hospitals in all prefecture-level cities or above. The development of old revolutionary base areas and those with large ethnic minority populations has gained speed. We have made new achievements in Tibet and Xinjiang assistance projects and other paired-up collaborations.

Over the past five years, we have comprehensively implemented the rural revitalization strategy and expedited agricultural and rural modernization, bringing notable transformation to rural areas. Having invested more than 160 billion Yuan in various assistance programs, we have lifted all of the 1.615 million people and 2,277 villages assessed as relatively poor from poverty and helped 93 poor counties and more than 5 million poor people in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sichuan Province, Guizhou Province and Yunnan Province to shake off poverty, rated as good in East-West collaboration for five consecutive years. We have integrated agricultural and rural funds amounting to 124.9 billion Yuan, developed industries conducive to prospering the people and villages and established a modern agricultural system featuring. The grain-producing area, output and per unit yield have increased for four straight years. Farmers have seen a faster income growth rate than urban residents for 10 years in a row, with the ratio of urban to rural residents’ income shrunk to 2.46. The “Village Demonstration and Improvement” program has born fruits: centralized water supply and waste collection and disposal systems have initially covered all rural areas, and infrastructure, such as rural roads and sanitary household toilets, have been fundamentally improved, writing new stories of rural rejuvenation in Guangdong.

Over the past five years, staying true to the principle that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, we have intensified routine actions in controlling pollution control and protecting the environment, witnessing significant improvement in the quality of the ecology. Guangdong has invested 750 billion Yuan cumulatively to resolve past issues. The reach of the new urban sewage pipe network has doubled in five years to over 45,300 kilometers, achieving full coverage of the township’s domestic sewage treatment facilities. We have eliminated black and odorous water bodies in built-up areas in prefecture-level cities and above and sections under the national monitoring program for surface water rated as Class V-. The excellent water quality rates observed at sections under the national monitoring program for surface water and offshore water have reached the best level in recent years. In addition, Maozhou River and Lianjiang River have elevated from worst pollution cases to pollution control examples. We have paved 5,212 kilometers of high-quality green ways. The major atmospheric pollutants have met all the standards for eight consecutive years, with an average concentration of PM2.5 dropping significantly to 20μg/m3. The risk of the soil environment has been under more effective control, and the annual hazardous waste utilization and processing capacity has reached 1.13 million tons. We have also added afforestation and greening areas by 1.51 million mu (1 hectare=15 mu) and green space area by 515,300 hectares. Construction of the Nanling Ecological Barrier has continued to progress, and the Pearl River Delta has initially developed into a national forest city cluster. A growing number of the population can enjoy “ecological welfare” by simply opening their windows at home.

Over the past five years, we have firmly promoted a people-centered approach to development, continued to deliver tangible benefits to citizens by enabling significant changes step-by-step and hence boosted people’s sense of fulfillment, happiness and security. Per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents has exceeded 45,000 Yuan. 6.9 million new jobs have been created in cities and towns, accounting for one-tenth of new positions in China. We have provided training for 8.93 million people through three projects, “Cantonese Chef”, “Guangdong Technician” and “Nan Yue Housekeeper” and created 2.52 million more public basic education seats. The gross enrollment rate of higher education has increased to above 57%, with the number of students in higher vocational education leading the country. Both basic and advanced healthcare services have been steadily improved in Guangdong, with the number of beds in medical institutions increasing by over 100,000. The average life expectancy of residents has reached 79.3 years, with greater public involvement in the fitness campaign on top of seeking medical aid. We have further improved the social security system with overall planning from a higher level and increased benefits. 810,000 sets (rooms) under the low-income housing project have been under construction. 1.5 million houses in old urban neighborhoods and 75,700 dilapidated houses built in rural areas have been renovated. Risks relating to 66,400 rural houses built on cut slopes have been eliminated, and illegal construction covering 900 million square meters has been dealt with. We have also made headway in building a culturally-advanced province with a national-level civilized city cluster in the Pearl River Delta in place. The service areas of public cultural facilities now cover all five administrative levels, and the value added of culture and related industries has ranked the top nationwide. We have established a five-level service system for demobilized military personnel with progress in national defense mobilization, preferential care and resettlement, military-civilian mutual support and the work of people’s armed forces. In addition, we have seen noticeable progress in a wide range of areas, including foreign and overseas Chinese affairs, ethnic and religious affairs, women, children, the disabled, literary and historical counseling and studies, local chronicles, earthquake administration, meteorological administration and other undertakings. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we have always put people and?their lives?front and center and protected the citizen’s safety and health to the greatest extent. Over the past three years, the fight against the pandemic has achieved major strategic and positive results.

Over the past five years, we have adhered to a balanced approach toward development and security, focusing on preventing and defusing major risks and maintaining overall peace and social stability. We have actively dealt with the challenges posed by China-US economic and trade disputes, the changes in the situation in Hong Kong and major natural disasters and have scored victories over one tough battle after another. Having completed the pilot project of eliminating hidden debts in all areas on schedule, Guangdong has become the first province in China to resolve the problem of existing hidden debts completely, with all 707 P2P platforms withdrawn from operation and 64 rural credit cooperatives restructured to form agricultural commercial banks. Adhering to market rules and law-based principles, our work in disposing of risks of debt resulting from real estate enterprises has been effective. We have been committed to promoting the construction of a safe Guangdong with the strengthened rule of law and achieved notable results in combating organized crimes and rooting out local criminal gangs in the current phase with generally stable social order and public safety. Guangdong has been rated Grade A in food safety for 4 consecutive years and in the National Quality Assessment for 7 consecutive years. The number of work safety accidents and deaths has been on the decline for 5 consecutive years. Guangdong has taken the lead in basically forming a modern public legal service system, now covering both urban and rural areas. Overall, Guangdong is becoming one of the safest regions that ensure the utmost social stability, equity and justice, and the rule of law.

Over the past five years, we have implemented full and rigorous Party self-governance. We have carried out education activities on the theme of “Never forgetting the Party’s original aspiration and founding mission” and programs to study Party history and put in place the ten mechanisms of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee to firmly uphold General Secretary Xi Jinping’s core position in both the Party Central Committee and the Party as a whole as well as the authority?of?the Party Central Committee?and its centralized, unified leadership. We have continued the campaign of “Extensive Study, Intensive Investigation and Effective Implementation” and gained a solid understanding of the decisive significance of establishing Comrade Xi Jinping’s core position in 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. We kept firmly in mind the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core and keep in alignment, and strengthened our confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We have resolutely upheld the core position of General Secretary Xi Jinping and upheld the authority of the CPC Central Committee and its centralized and unified leadership. We solemnly celebrated the 100th anniversary of the CPC, the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, and the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, all of which inspired the mighty power of people in Guangdong Province to forge ahead with a common goal. We persisted in reporting work to the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress and its Standing Committee and informed important work to the Guangdong Provincial Committee of CPPCC with 4,228 suggestions from deputies of the provincial People’s Congress and 3,610 proposals from the provincial CPPCC members being dealt with. We have solidly promoted building a law-based, service-oriented, clean government with further improvement of administrative service efficiency.

2022 was a paramount year of the Party and national history and marked the last year of the term of the current provincial government. In the face of the stormy international environment and the arduous tasks of reform, development and stability, Guangdong thoroughly studied, applied and implemented the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress, firmly implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping and the Party Central Committee’s important requirements of “ensuring effective COVID-19 containment, economic stability and development security”. We prioritized stability when pursuing progress, took into account domestic and international situations, coordinated epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, and coordinated development and security. We managed to effectively cope with the impact of unexpected factors and overcome daunting challenges with rock-firm determination and unconventional measures. Guangdong’s GDP is expected to grow by 2% in 2022, which is by no means easy considering all the circumstances.

First, we put people and their lives first all along in maintaining precise COVID-19 control. As China’s economic powerhouse with the largest foreign trade volume and population size, Guangdong Province experienced the greatest pressure from COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control in China. We conscientiously implemented the decisions and assignments from the Party Central Committee and kept optimizing and improving prevention and control measures in accordance with evolving situations. We acted on the principles of proactive prevention, early detection, rapid disposal, infection overflow prevention and service optimization. We consolidated the three defense lines of imported case prevention, regional coordination and the joint prevention and control mechanism among Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, and won successive battles against local outbreaks of COVID-19. Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the two megacities, withstood severe tests of local resurgence one after another. Facing Shenzhen’s extraordinary local outbreak, Guangdong responded by cutting off the transmission channels as quickly as possible, ensuring sufficient supplies to Hong Kong while keeping the price under control. We made efforts on “Three Fronts” of containing local infections, preventing imported cases and supporting Hong Kong’s epidemic response. We managed to achieve the best outcome in fighting the epidemic at the lowest cost. As a large-scale outbreak in clusters occurred in several urban villages in Guangzhou, we considered the whole province in making decisions, coordinated the resources of all cities and made painstaking efforts to fully support Guangzhou in coping with the most complicated, daunting and arduous situation in the past three years. In the new phase of epidemic response, we focused on protecting people’s health and preventing severe cases. We stepped up efforts in providing medical treatment and vaccination, effectively ensured supplies of drugs and other medical resources and secured a smooth and orderly transition with the adjustment of the COVID-19 response. Over the past year, the people of Guangdong joined hands in fighting against the epidemic together. A vast number of medical personnel, community workers and volunteers fought hard on the front line against all odds, and Party members and officials were the first to act with responsibilities. Our concerted efforts rallied into a powerful force to fend off the epidemic in unison and protect our beautiful homes, winning battles one after another.

Second, we resolutely acted as an economic engine to sustain stable economic operations with all-out efforts. Difficulties and challenges unseen in years loomed over our economic development as Guangdong was hit hard, especially by the triple pressures of demand contraction, supply shock and weakened expectation induced by multiple factors. We were ready to act and made headway despite the pressure. We took the lead in introducing two batches of 214 measures to stabilize the economy, targeted the policies to the forefront of challenges and enhanced the pace and effectiveness of our actions. We introduced “Ten Measures for Major Projects” and “Nine Measures for Special Bonds”, adhered to the principle of “funds and elements following the project” and emphasized the preliminary work of the project. With our unremitting efforts, the Central Government approved 23 GW of supportive power supply and 432.2 billion Yuan of special bonds. We commenced the construction of a number of major projects, such as Lianjiang Nuclear Power Plant Phase I and Unit 5 of Lufeng Nuclear Power Plant. In particular, the Guangdong water resources allocation project in Beibu Gulf Rim, with a total investment of more than 60 billion Yuan, started construction, and its completion will benefit 18 million people in Yunfu, Yangjiang, Maoming and Zhanjiang, fundamentally solving the long-standing water shortage in western Guangdong. Shenzhen-Zhanjiang High-speed Railway and Shiziyang Tunnel, both with a total investment exceeding 50 billion Yuan, will become important channels for the integrated development of the east and west banks of the Pearl River Estuary after their completion. The BASF Guangdong Verbund Site, with a total investment of over 10 billion euros, started full construction, and the first unit was put into operation. This project is China’s first wholly foreign-owned project in heavy chemicals and the largest single project invested by German enterprises in China. We introduced “9 + 16 Measures for Promoting Consumption” and “47 Measures for Recovering and Developing the Service Industry”, implemented policies such as automobile and home appliance trade-ins and subsidies for purchasing new energy vehicles and launched the “consumption coupons + consumption policies + promotional activities” package. We issued “11+4 Measures for Stabilizing Foreign Trade”, supported enterprises to explore and diversify the market through charter flights and entrusted participation of exhibitions, made all-out efforts to facilitate smooth cross-border trade flow between Guangdong and Hong Kong and innovatively held Canton Fair, High-tech Fair, Airshow China and more than 100 economic and trade events under “Guangdong Trade Worldwide” and “Guangdong Trade Nationwide” initiatives. The first Global Investment Promotion Conference for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area concluded 853 projects with an investment totaling 2.5 trillion Yuan, indicating the recognition of Guangdong’s business environment by domestic and foreign investors and their optimism about Guangdong’s long-term development prospects.

Third, we intensified our support for the real economy and made every effort to boost the confidence of market entities. Targeting the difficulties faced by market entities, such as include rising raw material costs, insufficient market demand and clogged industrial and supply chains, we fully implemented national tax and charge reduction packages and issued a series of relief measures without delay, such as “25 Measures for Financial Support on Real Economy” and “25 Measures for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Self-employed Businesses”. We provided special services to key enterprises and promoted the full enjoyment of policies and direct fund granting to eligible applicants. In the past year, the tax refund, tax suspension, and tax and charge cut amounted to 465.6 billion Yuan. The scale was the largest ever, with concrete supports to help enterprises through the difficult times. We introduced “32 Measures and Increment Policy for Industrial Stabilization”, focused on manufacturing projects with an investment exceeding 5 billion Yuan, took actions to improve the resilience of the industrial and supply chains and solved problems with chain- and enterprise-specific measures. We put major projects into operation, including Guangdong Chip Phase II, CATL’s Ruiqing Times, 200,000 new energy vehicle production expansion project of GAC’s self-owned brand, CSOT T9 production line, and PetroChina Guangdong Petrochemicals and Refinery Project. We gained the approval to implement several integrated circuit projects, including Guangdong Chip Phase III, CR Micro and sensors of Guangzhou Zen Semiconductor, representing solid steps toward a third hub of China’s integrated circuits. We saw an increase of 47 new national single-product-manufacturing champions and 447 national enterprises, known as “l(fā)ittle giants”, producing unique and novel products with specialized and sophisticated technologies. We facilitated 10,000 enterprises to upgrade to above the designated scale and over 90,00 industrial enterprises to conduct technical transformation and drove a 12% increase in industrial investment. The industries withstood the impact and showed robust industrial resilience and development strength.

Fourth, we planned and structured a whole-process innovation-driven industrial chain and strengthened the leading and supporting role of science and technology. By striving to work through the whole-process chain of “basic research, technological breakthroughs, results industrialization, fintech and support of talents”, we consistently reinforced its advantages in scientific and technological innovations. The ten-year “Excellent Research programs for Guangdong” initiative in basic research was introduced, with more than 1/3 of the provincial-level special funds for science and technology and innovation directed to basic research, encouraging enterprises and social forces to increase investment. Guided by the Greater Bay Area Comprehensive National Science Center, we have strengthened the construction of major scientific and technological innovation platforms. The Greater Bay Area Quantum Science Center has been established. The national hub nodes in the integrated nationwide computing network within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Phase-II of China Spallation Neutron Source project have been approved for construction. The Greater Bay Area National Center of Technology Innovation has been put into operation. The South China National Botanical Garden was officially launched, becoming the second nationwide. We have implemented a new round of R&D plan in key areas, kickstarting a campaign of tackling tough tasks to break through several bottlenecks related to 5G, new energy vehicles, biomedicines, ultra-high-definition displays and other technical fields. We promoted national-level funds to focus on major scientific and technological achievements in the region to carry out equity investment so as to improve the quality and expand the influence of scientific and technological credit. We solidly promoted the development of a talent highland in the GBA by introducing a new batch of leading talented individuals from the science and technology field and high-level innovation teams. There are 135 academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering working full-time in Guangdong, and the number of R&D personnel has reached 1.3 million, vividly showing Guangdong’s strong attraction to talent from both home and abroad.

Fifth, we promoted the implementation of major platform innovation policies and made a big push to enhance orderly industrial transfer and coordinated regional development. We implemented the “Hong Kong and Macao Medicine and Equipment Connect” and “Macao Cars Going Northward”, and successfully launched 24 special measures to loosen market access in Shenzhen Pilot Demonstration Area, the “Double 15%” tax preferential policy in Hengqin, and the Qianhai Big Data Center for Cross-border Trade. The first trade variety in Guangzhou Futures Exchange, industrial silicon, was listed. The State Council issued the Master Plan of Guangzhou Nansha on Deepening Comprehensive Cooperation Between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao with Global Perspective, which grants encouraged industries preferential policies such as 15% corporate income tax, Hong Kong tax rate for Hong Kong people, and Macao tax rate for Macao people. The development of Nansha has ushered in new major opportunities. The overall plan to support Meizhou’s integration into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to accelerate the revitalization and development was approved. The Central Government granted a series of favorable policies, such as transfer payments to the old revolutionary base area and central budgetary investment. The CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and the provincial government issued Several Measures on Promoting the Orderly Transfer of Industries and the Coordinated Development of the Region. Sticking to the principle of “government promotion, enterprises as the main body, market operation, and win-win cooperation”, Guangdong guided the orderly transfer of industries in the Pearl River Delta to eastern, western and northern Guangdong, increased policy support for land and energy use as well as fiscal and monetary projects and strengthened the cooperation between state-owned enterprises, large private enterprises and business associations in the Pearl River Delta and cities in northern, eastern and western Guangdong. Qingyuan has achieved positive results in undertaking the textile and garment from Guangzhou. Every city in the province has formed a number of practical cooperation projects and taken new steps to explore the path to and model of common prosperity.

Sixth, we insisted on prioritizing agricultural and rural development and advancing rural revitalization on all fronts. We demarcated “Three Spaces and Three Lines” and strictly implemented the joint responsibility of the Party and the government for protecting arable land and ensuring food security. We developed more than 1.618 million mu of high-standard farmland and restored the cultivation of 727,000 mu of abandoned arable land. With breakthroughs in the “Guangdong Tech Seeds” program, we harvested 12.915 million tons of grain, with the growth of grain output, producing area and per unit yield higher than the national average. We paced up the construction of a modern agricultural industrial system and built a total of 18 national and 288 provincial modern agricultural parks. We vigorously developed prepared dishes and the agricultural microbe industries and supported the “12221” market system as an effective platform for marketing agricultural products in cities, with booming production and sales of high-quality agricultural products, including lychees, pineapples, aquatic products, livestock and poultry. We progressed in assigning town-based task forces to boost the town and villages under its jurisdiction and implemented the paired-up enhancement program between enterprises and towns/villages. With strengthened overall planning of infrastructure and basic public services in counties, new achievements were made in the rural Toilet Revolution and domestic sewage and garbage treatment. Meanwhile, we started to create a batch of demonstration belts for rural revitalization to lead the province-wide transformation of the rural landscape.

Seventh, we made every effort to develop social undertakings and conscientiously protected and improved people’s livelihoods. Against the slowed-down fiscal revenue growth rate and the increased pressure on expenditure, the proportion of fiscal spending on people’s livelihood remained at more than 70%. We prioritized employment stabilization and fully supported the enterprises to relieve burdens, stabilize the jobs and expand employment and implement policies such as deferred payment of social insurance premiums and temporary reduction of unemployment work-related injury insurance premiums. Focusing on key population groups, we increased the number of new urban jobs by 1.32 million, hence meeting and overfilling the target (1.1 million) assigned by the Central Government. We managed to keep the surveyed urban unemployment rate in cities and towns within 5.5%. The employment of 713,000 college graduates and 42 million migrant workers remained basically stable. We promoted the high-quality development of basic education with the standardization of private schools for compulsory education completed successfully. We fully implemented the policy of reducing students’ homework burden and after-school tutoring burden in compulsory education and made solid progress in promoting high-quality development of high-level vocational colleges and disciplines. One hundred sixty higher education disciplines made it into the top 1% of the ESI rankings, and another three universities entered the ranks of “double first-class” top universities development initiative. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) was officially opened. Eleven hospitals ranked among the top 100 in China. The capacity of primary medical and health services continued to improve, and the average price of centralized procurement of drugs and medical consumables was reduced by more than 50%. Inter-provincial on-the-spot settlement of outpatient bills for 5 particular diseases, including high blood pressure and diabetes, was made possible. The Guangzhou branch of the National Archives of Publications and Culture was open to the public, demonstrating Lingnan culture and becoming a new landmark in a new era. We strengthened the “Three Guarantees” at the grassroots level and allocated 531.5 billion Yuan out of the provincial budget as subsidies to cities and counties. We implemented 18 consecutive pension adjustments for enterprise employees with 3.5 million people on flexible employment signing up for old-age insurance. Households living barely above the level of subsistence and those who experienced difficulties in meeting basic needs due to expenditure induced by irresistible reasons were all included in social assistance. With CPI increased by 3%, we ensured citizens fill their “rice bags” and “vegetable baskets” with reasonable prices. 

Eighth, we coordinated development and security and maintained the bottom line of secure development. We worked conscientiously to protect energy security by actively communicating with large coal-producing provinces and relevant energy enterprises to enhance coal and natural gas supplies. Twenty-one key power grid projects, such as the Fujian-Guangdong grid interconnection and the third line of 220 kV Guangdong-Macao grid interconnection, were completed and running with an added installed capacity exceeding 13 GW. With the power load hitting a record high, we managed to maintain a stable power supply by encouraging maximum power generation by power-generating companies without having to resort to power rationing or power cutoff. In earnestly implementing the “Fifteen Measures” of the Work Safety Committee of the State Council and the “65 Measures” by Guangdong, we launched the renovation project for the safety of urban gas use and self-built houses, systematically prevented and resolved road traffic safety risks and achieved full completion of the three-year special action for production safety upgrading with the number of accidents and deaths decreasing by 19.4% and 17.5%, respectively. We took tough measures to crack down on prominent illegal and criminal acts, such as narcotics, telecommunications network fraud, illegal migration and smuggling, to create a greater sense of security for residents. In particular, in the face of the strongest torrential rain in the summer and the once-in-a-century flood in the Beijiang River Basin, we launched the provincial Class I flood control emergency response for the first time since the founding of the People’s Republic of China and promptly evacuated 1.55 million people in dangerous areas with no mass deaths and injuries, hence resolutely protected the safety of people’s lives and property. 

Over the past year, Guangdong has vigorously advocated the clear orientation of taking on responsibilities in all undertakings with an enterprising spirit and vigor and made every effort to improve the government system’s work style and performance. It has become a common practice among government officials to focus on promoting development in a pragmatic manner. Working at the grassroots level, we conscientiously implemented mechanisms such as direct reporting of designated cities and counties to provincial leadership and between the province and cities and pushed provincial departments to work closely with 21 municipalities, with a special plan for each city to address bottleneck issues. Meanwhile, we broke routines and innovated mechanisms, took the lead in establishing a parallel approval mechanism and Beijing working group for major projects and visibly enhanced the efficiency of project approval, resource support and issue coordination through collective task forces and cooperation of higher and lower departments, thus improving project implementation, construction, commissioning and effectiveness as early as possible. We took the initiative and seized the major opportunities of the 115 billion Yuan of policy- and development-oriented financial instruments granted by the Central Government to drive 1.8 trillion Yuan of investment for 273 projects signed in one month, all of which had started construction before the end of November. These achievements mark the Guangdong speed in the new era and inject new impetus for Guangdong’s development. 

Fellow Deputies! Guangdong’s development in the past five years is a vivid epitome of the great changes taking place over the past decade of the new era. Every achievement, every leap forward, and every victory won by Guangdong lies in General Secretary Xi Jinping’s leadership as the core of the Party Central Committee and the core of the whole Party, and in the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Establishing Comrade Xi Jinping’s core position in the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and defining the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era are the major political achievements made by the Party in the new era, and the greatest assurance, the greatest confidence and the greatest guarantee for overcoming all difficulties and coping with all uncertainties, and also the greatest source of confidence and strength for Guangdong to forge ahead in the new journey! 

Fellow Deputies! One cannot fully understand what difficulty is except through personal experience. The achievements of the past five years have been hard-won, and the experience is invaluable. This is the result of the strong leadership and keen attention given by the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, and the result of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee leading the people of Guangdong to work hard together in unity. On behalf of the People’s Government of Guangdong Province, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to people all across the province, deputies to the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress, members of the CPPCC Guangdong Provincial Committee, other political parties, people’s organizations, people from all walks of life, central institutions based in Guangdong, the officers and soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army, armed police officers, public security officers, commanders and fighters of the fire rescue teams, compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, overseas Chinese and international friends! 

At the same time, we must not lose sight of the many difficulties and challenges in Guangdong’s economic and social development. The triple pressure of demand contraction, supply shocks and weakening expectations is still large, and the foundation for economic recovery is not yet solid. The problem of imbalanced and uncoordinated development is still prominent. The comprehensive strength of counties is not strong enough. The functions of towns connecting cities and villages need improvement, and the foundation of rural development remains weak. Core technologies are still in the hands of others, and we need to make unremitting efforts to tackle problems in technological research that hinder our development. The manufacturing industry is large but not strong, and the industrial basics and competitiveness need to be further enhanced. Many major issues remain to be addressed to ensure the reliability and security of food, energy, industrial chains and supply chains and to prevent financial risks. There are still many shortcomings in the field of people’s well-being, as our work in employment, education, medical care, childcare, elderly care and housing has not fully met the expectation of our people. Formalism and bureaucracy still exist to varying degrees, and administrative efficiency needs to be further improved. We should rise to the challenges and tackle all the problems. 

II. Goals and Tasks for the Next Five Years

We successfully convened the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). An ambitious blueprint has been drawn for building a modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, sounding a clarion call of the times for us forging ahead on a new journey. We must gain an in-depth understanding of the major significance of the work of the past five years and the great changes in the first decade of the new era. We must adhere to the worldview and methodology of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, adhere to the mission of advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, use the Party’s own transformation to steer social transformation and meet the demands of the era of working hard in unity. We will thoroughly implement the decision on continuously and thoroughly studying and implementing the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress by the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and make every effort to write a Guangdong chapter in building a modern socialist country in all respects and pass new tests on the road ahead.

The general requirements for the work of Guangdong Government in the next five years are: uphold Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era; thoroughly implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress; thoroughly implement the important remarks and instructions on Guangdong by General Secretary Xi Jinping; gain a solid understanding of the decisive significance of establishing Comrade Xi Jinping’s core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and defining the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era; keep firmly in mind the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core and keep in alignment; strengthen our confidence in the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics; resolutely uphold the core position of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the authority of the CPC Central Committee and its centralized and unified leadership; make coordinated efforts to pursue the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy; uphold and strengthen the Party’s overall leadership; follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics; apply a people-centered development philosophy; remain committed to deepening reform and openingup; carry forward our fighting spirit; actively explore the path of Chinese modernization in Guangdong; follow the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy on all fronts; support and integrate into the new development pattern; pursue high-quality development; coordinate development and security; seize the opportunities created by the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, make headway in implementing the major strategies of Shenzhen Pilot Demonstration Area of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, the three development platforms of Hengqin, Qianhai and Nansha; and strive to be a forerunner on the new journey of building a modern socialist country and achieve new glories.

According to the ambitious blueprint drawn by the 20th CPC National Congress and the requirements of the 13th Guangdong Provincial Party Congress and the second plenary session of the 13th CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, the major economic and social development targets for the next five years are: make progress in high-quality development; make new progress in economic development; significantly improve our self-reliance and enhance capabilities in science and technology; make substantial progress in the construction of modern industrial system; build manufacturing industry even bigger and stronger; comprehensively advance rural revitalization strategy; and promote coordinated development between urban and rural areas. We will make breakthroughs in reform and opening up, fully release the reinforcing effect of major national strategies, make marked progress in integrated reforms, initially build a high-standard open economic system and enhance further civility throughout society. At the same time, the core socialist values will be further embraced by the people, the advancement of material and cultural-ethical gains will be more coordinated, and soft power will be significantly enhanced. We will ensure new achievements in the Green and Beautiful Guangdong Campaign, notable progress in the green transition and significant improvement in the environment. We will raise people’s well-being to a new level, significantly improve equitable access to basic public services and achieve tangible results in pursuing common prosperity. We will further enhance governance capacity, significantly improve grassroots governance and sustain a safe and stable society.

Taking the lead and creating more glory in the new journey is a far-reaching expectation of General Secretary Xi Jinping for Guangdong. The province has consistently shouldered the responsibility of acting as a forerunner, leading force and an example for the whole country. Guangdong must keep the entrusted missions and tasks in mind and stride forward with concrete efforts, focus on the modernization of China, reform and opening up and the major national strategies, understand clearly its historic position and advantages and make its development a vivid demonstration to show the bright future of Chinese modernization. Guangdong will focus on the following five tasks: First, we will unswervingly promote high-quality development. General Secretary Xi Jinping has tasked Guangdong with becoming a pioneer and demonstrating high-quality development. We must take high-quality development as the primary task and the core in modernizing Guangdong and secure constant gains in modernization with progressive high-quality development. We will ensure the core position of innovation throughout the modernization process, pool resources for high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement, open up new fields and race tracks for development spheres and shape new drivers and new edges for development with unremitting efforts. We will safeguard the dominance of the manufacturing industry, focus on major industries, platforms, projects, enterprises and environment, accelerate the formation of a modern industrial system, upgrade the industrial foundation and modernize the industrial chain. We will integrate the domestic demand expansion project with the supply-side structural reform, strengthen the internal driving force and reliability in domestic circulation, enhance the quality and level of international circulation and bolster high-quality development while serving and integrating into the new development pattern. Second, we will unswervingly deepen reform and openingup in an all-round way. As General Secretary Xi Jinping has made it clear that Guangdong should advance the reform and opening up at a higher starting point with firmer resolve, we must shoulder the important mission of deepening reform on all fronts with the times. Centering our work on the key of developing a high-standard socialist market economy, we will focus on pilot reforms in such areas as scientific and technological innovation, state-owned assets and enterprises, coordinated development, ecological environment, digital government and credible Guangdong to create Guangdong’s iconic leading reform brand and further establish the reputation of having a market-oriented, law-based and international business environment. In this way, we hope to display to the world an energetic Guangdong that will never become inactive or hardened to changes or slack. We must shoulder the important task of expanding all-around opening up through rolling out a slew of integrated measures in foreign trade, foreign investment, foreign outsourcing, foreign economic cooperation and overseas talent attraction. We will also steadily expand institutional opening up with regard to rules, regulations, management and standards, pace up to become a leading province in trade and foster a favorable situation and strategic advantages for Guangdong’s trade to make Guangdong a hub for global high-end factors and resource allocation. Third, we will unswervingly pursue a more balanced and coordinated development. General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out that the imbalanced urban and rural development is the most impactful shortcoming hindering Guangdong’s high-quality development. Led by the regional coordinated development strategy, the main function zone strategy, the new urbanization strategy and the rural revitalization strategy, we will carry out the “High-quality Development Project for Guangdong Counties, Towns and Villages” project, encourage developed counties to support the development of towns and villages, speed up the pace of developing Shantou and Zhanjiang into provincial sub-centers, facilitate an orderly transition of industries from the Pearl River Delta to eastern, western and southern Guangdong and pace up to turn shortcomings into potentials. We will promote the coordinated development of material well-being and ethical standards to build a culturally-advanced province and make outstanding achievements in both aspects. We will further promote the Green and Beautiful Guangdong Campaign, coordinate carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion and growth and expedite the green transition of development modes, thus bringing bluer skies, lusher mountains, clearer water and better ecology to Guangdong, creating Guangdong model of beautiful China and promoting harmonious coexistence between man and nature. We will develop the marine economy in scale and quality and move faster to make Guangdong competitive in this field. Fourth, we will unswervingly improve the quality of people’s lives. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that realizing people’s yearning for a better life is the starting point and foothold of the modernization drive. We will continue to adhere to the people-centered approach to development and guarantee and improve people’s well-being in the process of development to the best of our abilities. We will continue implementing the “Ten Livelihood Programs”, focusing on resolving the people’s most immediate difficulties. We will improve the quality of employment and income level, build a high-quality education system, a high-level medical and health system and a multi-tiered social security system and upgrade the level of public services and balanced accessibility to promote common prosperity in high-quality development. Fifth, we will unswervingly coordinate development and security. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed on many occasions that security is the prerequisite for development. In implementing the overall concept of national security, we will include security development throughout the entire process of development in all fields. We will establish a framework for general security and emergency response, improve the public security system, vigorously prevent and resolve major risks concerning the security of food, energy resources, important industrial chains and supply chains and improve disaster prevention, mitigation and relief and major public emergency response capabilities. With continuous efforts made to improve the social governance pattern of joint construction, co-governance and sharing, we will strive to enhance public safety and bring the rule of law to a higher level. 

Fellow deputies! Since Guangdong has stood at a new and higher historic starting point, as long as we firm up confidence, work hard in unity, seize and create the opportunity, ignite the enterprising spirit of the whole society, encourage the local governments, businesses and the people to think big and take actions, roll up our sleeves and forge ahead, we will make solid progress and leave a bright and colorful mark on the grand picture of Chinese path to modernization.

III. Work Plans for 2023

This year marks our first year of implementing the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress and an essential year to implement the guiding principles decided in the Central Economic Work Conference and the Central Rural Work Conference. The main goals of Guangdong’s economic and social development are: GDP growth by about 5%; total fixed-assets investment up by 8%, total retail sales of consumer goods up by 6%, import and export up by 3%; the added value of industries above designated scale up by 5.5%; general public budget revenue up by 5%; per capita disposable income of residents growing in sync with the economic growth, consumer price index up by 3%; 1.1 million new urban jobs created, with the surveyed urban unemployment rate within 5.5%; overall grain productivity over 12.68 million tons; the number of days with good and moderate AQI and surface water meeting Class I to Class III quality standards fulfilling missions assigned by the Central Government.

We will make economic stability our top priority and pursue progress while ensuring stability, better coordinate epidemic control with economic and social development, better coordinate development and security, maintain stable expectations, strengthen confidence and effective implementation, ensure especially stability in growth, employment and prices, ensure economic performance with sound momentum for growth, achieve economic progress in quality and scale and secure a good start for Guangdong on the new journey to modernization. We will focus on the following ten tasks: 

(I) We will promote the in-depth development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Shenzhen Pilot Demonstration Area of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and build the Hengqin, Qianhai and Nansha development platforms at a high level

Actively promoting the development of the GBA. We will fully and accurately implement the principle of “one country, two systems” by aligning with the Northern Metropolis Plan of Hong Kong and the “1+4” appropriate diversification development strategy of Macao and supporting Hong Kong and Macao to better integrate into the overall development of the whole country. We will facilitate rule and mechanism matching in the three places, thoroughly implement the Wan Qu Tong Initiative (the GBA Connectivity Initiative), carry out cross-border “Insurance Connect”, secure progress in “Macao Cars Going Northward”, speed up the work in promoting “Hong Kong Cars Going Northward”, expedite the construction of “Digital GBA” and improve cross-border handling of GBA standards and certification, professional qualification recognition, endorsement for scientific research talents from the Chinese mainland and administrative services. We will build a “GBA on Rail” and reconstruct the Huanggang Checkpoint, accelerate the construction of the Shenzhen-Zhanjiang High-speed Railway and the Guangzhou-Foshan Ring Line. We will take action to carry out the preliminary work on renovating Xili Comprehensive Transport Hub and Guangzhou East Railway Station. We will move forward with the pilot project of the high-quality integrated development of the Pearl River Estuary in the GBA and build a 100 km “Golden Inner Bay” around the Pearl River Estuary. We will support Zhuhai to become a core city in the west bank of the Pearl River Estuary. We will optimize the major cooperation platforms such as Foshan Sanlongwan, Huizhou Daya Bay, Dongguan Binhai Bay, Zhongshan Cuiheng New District, Jiangmen Greater Guanghaiwan Economic Zone and Zhaoqing New District. We will build the high-quality GBA International Higher Education Demonstration Zone and the Hong Kong-Macao Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurial Base to provide more convenient conditions for Hong Kong and Macao residents to work in Guangdong. We will stride forward with passion and build a world-class and well-developed bay area at a faster rate.

Advancing the development of Shenzhen Pilot Demonstration Area of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics with reform and innovation. We will forge ahead with the comprehensive reform pilot, strive to introduce the second batch of authorized matters and implement the 24 special measures to loosen market access. We will improve the overall efficiency of the innovation system and pace up to build Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Technology and Innovation Cooperation Zone, Guangming Science City, Xili Lake International Science and Education City, Shenzhen Medical Academy and other major innovation platforms. We will support the development of Shenzhen Bay Super Headquarters Base, Xiangmihu New Financial Center and other major development areas, promote the establishment of the International Marine Development Bank and transform Guangdong into a global innovation capital formation center, a fintech center and an international wealth management center. We will support building an experimental zone for comprehensive reform of basic education and an international medical center and speed up the planning of Shenzhen Ocean University. We will advance the development of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Checkpoint Economic Belt and create a new engine for Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation. We will give full play to the leading role of Shenzhen Pilot Demonstration Area, writing new chapters for the “Spring Story”.

Vigorously forging ahead the development of Hengqin, Qianhai and Nansha. We will pace up to formulate and implement the overall plan of the Guangdong-Macao in-depth cooperation zone in Hengqin and introduce the regulations for promoting the development of the Hengqin cooperation zone. We will focus on the appropriate diversification development of Macao and support Hengqin in cultivating and expanding key industries, including scientific and technological research and development, Macao’s signature industries such as high-end manufacturing, traditional Chinese medicine, and key industries such as cultural tourism, convention and exhibition, commerce and trade, and modern finance, promote line-division management and establish Macao New Neighborhoods, and improve the level of Hengqin-Macao integrated development. We will work to gain the approval for implementing the plan of a new round of overall development in Qianhai, promote the revision of the regulations regarding Qianhai, advance the development of Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Financial City, International Talent Port and Venture Capital Cluster and make plans for Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Express Railway and Qianhai Checkpoint. We will introduce supporting policies to boost the development of Nansha, formulate a new round of high-level overall plans, facilitate the introduction of related regulations, support Nansha to set up statutory authorities, carry out pilot projects of comprehensive reform on land management, establish the GBA International Commercial Bank and GBA Joint Shipping Exchange Center, establish the comprehensive service base for Chinese enterprises “going global” and speed up to develop a major strategic platform which bases itself on the GBA, aligns with Hong Kong and Macao and embraces the world, painting a vivid picture of passionately conducting the Nansha plan.

Supporting the “Four-thronged Urban Rejuvenation Initiatives” in Guangzhou to inject new vigor into this historical city. We will support Guangzhou to formulate the strategic plan of urban development facing 2049, forging a multi-center and network-based urban spatial structure, and strengthening its function as the provincial capital and a national central city. We will support the planning of the science and technology and innovation corridor and make effective measures on major science and technology infrastructures such as the human cell lineage and cold seep ecosystem. We will promote the development of platforms such as Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, Guangzhou International Financial City and Guangzhou AI and Digital Economy Experimental Zone at a high level and foster and expand strategic industries such as bio-medicines, integrated circuits, intelligent connection and new energy vehicles. We will thoroughly carry out the national comprehensive pilot project for expanding the opening up of the service industry and upgrade the modern service industry. We will accelerate the construction of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Phase III, Guangzhou Port Nansha Port District International General Terminal, Guangzhou-Guangzhou South Link and other projects. We will support urban renewals in old city areas and focus on details in improving urban planning, construction and governance to transform Guangzhou into an international metropolis. 

(II)We will base our development on real economy, ensure the dominance of the manufacturing industry, expedite actions to make Guangdong competitive in the manufacturing industry and quality products and heighten the pillar of the modern industrial system

Emphasizing the dominance of the manufacturing industry. We will implement the “Top Leader Responsibility” mechanism to safeguard the dominance of the manufacturing industry and conduct high-quality development assessments such as the “per mu” evaluation. We will enhance the advantage of dominant industries, vigorously promote the construction of 20 strategic industrial clusters, improve the quality and expand the existing 8 trillion-yuan industrial clusters and pace up to nurture new trillion-yuan clusters in such areas as ultra-high-definition video displays, biomedicine and healthcare, and new energy. We will take the initiative to create several 500-billion-yuan clusters of emerging industries and seize the high ground of artificial intelligence, quantum technology, genetic technology, deep-sea technology and space technology, among other areas. We will transform and upgrade traditional advantageous industries such as home appliances, textiles and garments, food industry, hardware and building materials. Aiming to boost the edges of manufacturing enterprises, we will establish a graduated incubation scheme for quality enterprises, implement the “individual business-incorporation-scaling up-joint stock-listing” market entity upgrading system and create a world-leading enterprise cluster featuring leadership by “chain leaders”, scientific research by single-product-manufacturing champions and foundation consolidated by enterprises producing unique and novel products with specialized and sophisticated technologies. We will improve the new resource and factor allocation mechanism backing the dominance of the manufacturing industry and strengthen the two-way integration of urban areas and industries. We will establish a batch of leading industrial clusters, supporting industrial parks and platforms with a land of more than 10,000 mu and an output of over 100 million Yuan, support upgrading high-tech zones, economic development zones and industrial transfer parks to 2.0 and 3.0 versions that meet the requirements of industrial ecology and improve the output rate of industrial land. We will promote the in-depth integration of the modern service industry with the advanced manufacturing industry, play the role of the production-oriented service industry in supporting the manufacturing industry, implement the “Industrial Design Empowers Guangdong” program and establish more than 30 provincial industrial design centers. Guangdong rose with the manufacturing industry in the past and will undoubtedly leverage the manufacturing industry to win the future, holding up the industrial backbone of Guangdong’s modernization endeavors at a new height.

Enhancing the resilience and security level of the industrial chain and supply chain. Sticking to the “key supply chain leading enterprises + key officials” mechanism, we will develop “1+N” policies to ensure the security and stability of the industrial chain and the supply chain and actively undertake the national industrial foundation reestablishment project to promote fundamental capabilities of developing parts and components, basic industrial software, basic manufacturing processes and equipment and industrial technologies. We will bolster the key links of the industrial chains, such as integrated circuits and machine tools, implement the “Chain Stabilization Project” targeting leading enterprises and the “Chain Enhancement Project” targeting the auto parts industry and expedite the construction of projects such as Guangdong Chip Phase III, Guangzhou Zen Semiconductor, CR Micro and Jiangmen CALB. With special actions in supporting the industrial investment, we will promote the BASF Guangdong Verbund Site, ExxonMobil Huizhou Ethylene Project, CSPC Ethylene Phase III Project, Maoming Petrochemical Technology Transformation and other major projects in the industry chain construction, support the construction of Yangjiang International Wind Power City, Shantou International Wind Power Innovation Port, Shanwei Offshore Wind Power Equipment Manufacturing and Engineering Base, Zhanjiang Donghaidao Iron, Steel and Petrochemical Industrial Park, Jieyang Dananhai Petrochemical Industrial Zone, etc. and leverage the impact of leading enterprises to attract upstream and downstream supporting enterprises to seek cluster development. We will support 9,000 industrial enterprises to carry out equipment renewal and technological reform, upgrade more than 7,000 enterprises to a scale above the designated level and promote high-end, intelligent and green transition with greater efforts.

Making Guangdong competitive in its quality. We will cultivate a series of benchmark cities in efforts to make China known for its quality products. We will carry out product, engineering and service quality enhancement actions and strengthen research on ensuring a high-quality industrial foundation in key areas. We will continue to implement the standardization strategy, build a standardization system to promote high-quality development of the manufacturing industry and enhance the international recognition of Guangdong standards. We will strengthen the quality-testing infrastructure and establish a series of national and provincial quality inspection centers, industrial measurement and testing centers and technical standards innovation bases. We will build a modern engineering and construction quality management system and improve the quality and efficiency of public services. We will implement quality projects and support the cultivation of more high-quality products and well-known brands.

Expediting the development of the digital economy. We will work to make Guangdong a hub of the Internet industry, carry forward the digital Guangdong campaign, promote the construction of Shaoguan data center cluster as a national hub node in the integrated nationwide computing network, support the initial 5G network coverage in major urban and rural areas and accelerate the construction of application-oriented infrastructure in finance, transportation, energy and electricity, among other fields. We will facilitate the in-depth integration of the digital economy and the real economy, cultivate such industries as key software, industrial Internet and blockchain and push forward the construction of the national digital economy innovation development pilot zone and the national industrial Internet demonstration zone. We will facilitate the digital transformation of 5,000 industrial enterprises above the designated scale, drive 100,000 small and medium-sized enterprises to “operate on the cloud and use the cloud” and support Foshan and Dongguan to transform into demonstration cities for the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry. We will back platform enterprises to leverage their edges in leading development, creating jobs and progressing in international competition. We will accelerate the pace to enhance the inclusiveness of digital public services, the precision of digital social governance and the intelligence of digital life. We will support the construction of Guangzhou Data Exchange and Shenzhen Data Exchange, improve the integration, sharing and utilization of data and resources and strengthen network security and data security.

Intensifying business attraction efforts. We will create a macro business attraction pattern and coordinate the integration of domestic and foreign investment in the whole industry chain, implement the “10 Measures for Promoting Manufacturing Investment”, “12 Measures for Stabilizing Foreign Investment” and the new negative list of foreign investment. With a focus on attracting competitive tech manufacturing enterprises willing to seek long-term development in Guangdong, we will work to ensure tangible results in holding the Global Investment Promotion Conference for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Economic and Trade Cooperation Conference between the Pearl River Delta and Eastern, Western and Northern Guangdong, China Marine Economy Expo, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road International Expo, and China International Small and Medium Enterprises Fair. We should pay attention to introducing new projects while encouraging existing projects to add investment and expand production. Heads of cities should lead the work of business attraction, act with boldness and a pioneering spirit as at the beginning of the reform and opening up, visit places where opportunities await business attraction with clear targets in mind, encourage chain leaders and leverage existing enterprises to attract business and make plans on introducing a number of new ten-billion-yuan and ten-billion-dollar level projects to set off a new wave of business attraction and booming project construction.

(III)We will persist with prioritizing education, self-reliance in science and technology and talent-driven development to comprehensively make Guangdong competitive in education, scientific and technological innovation, and human resources

Accelerating the development of a high-quality education system. We will implement the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education and promote the all-round development of students. We will optimize the allocation of regional educational resources, promote the inclusive development of preschool education and special education, improve the quality and balance of compulsory education, realize overall lifting on county high schools and promote educational equity. We will run kindergartens, primary schools and middle schools with high quality to better meet the expectations of “access to quality education”. We will improve the quality of vocational education, implement the “standard meeting” project of vocational schools, deepen the integration of vocational education and general education and of industry and education, and support the construction of the provincial vocational education city. We will promote higher education with better quality and distinct characteristics, push to build first-class universities and first-class disciplines, and make greater efforts on basic disciplines, emerging disciplines, and interdisciplines. We will set up special schools and improve the quality of continuing education. We will better guide and regulate the development of private education. We will advance the pilot project on education evaluation reform and carry on the campaign to ease the burden of excessive homework and after-school tutoring for students undergoing compulsory education. We will advance education digitalization. We will strive to popularize science and technology and enhance the scientific and technological literacy of the public and of the younger generation in particular. We will thoroughly carry out the “Teachers’ Competency Training Program” to train high-quality teachers. Education is a far-reaching cause of the country, and the importance cannot be overstated. We must secure fruits in projects for the younger generation and nurture the future of our country.

Accelerating the establishment of the whole-process innovation-driven industrial chain. We will stimulate new vitality of innovation by promoting the three-year tough task of reform of the scientific and technological system, focusing the government’s management in science and technology on strategy, reform, planning and service, deepening the reform of science and technology evaluation, improving the management mechanism for the use of scientific research funds, reforming the approval and operation of major science and technology projects and creating a demonstration site of science and technology system reform. We will enhance innovation leadership and speed up the development of the technology and innovation center in the GBA by giving full play to Peng Cheng Laboratory and Guangzhou Laboratory to function as national pillars, striving for more national key laboratories to set up in Guangdong, expediting the construction of major scientific and technological infrastructure such as the Phase II of China Spallation Neutron Source project in Dongguan, the Phase III of Peng Cheng Cloud Brain, High-intensity Heavy-ion Accelerator Facility in Huizhou and Underground Neutrino Observatory in Jiangmen, conducting the ten-year “Excellent Research Programs for Guangdong” in basic research, improving the diversified long-term and stable investment mechanism of “government + enterprise + society”, creating more room for the emergence of “zero to one” innovation achievements and forging a vital source of original innovation. We will elevate the hard power in innovation by furthering the “Powerful Guangdong-Made Chips” Initiative, making breakthroughs in the core software, exploring the “Guangdong Path” for a new-type national system of concentrating efforts and resources, supporting leading scientific and technological enterprises in forming a systematic and task-oriented innovation consortium, establishing a new mechanism of “the scientific and technological circle answering the demand” to originate new projects, solving the “bottleneck” issues with technology-specific policy and creating a cradle of key and core technologies. Besides, We will strengthen the innovation momentum by giving full play to the advantages of the in-depth integration of government, industry, university, research and capital as well as the important platforms such as high-tech zones, improving the commercialization mechanism for the achievements of universities and scientific research institutions, supporting the establishment of concept verification centers and lab-scale and pilot-scale test bases, pursuing more commercialization of scientific and technological achievements in the development process, promoting the high-quality creation, utilization and protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) and building the ideal place for the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements. We will increase the innovation support by establishing experimental zones for scientific, innovative and financial reform in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, guiding angel investment to grow faster, building an international venture capital center, promoting IPR pledge financing and securitization, facilitating a virtuous circle of “S&T-industry-finance”, and creating an in-depth integration of science, technology and finance. We will enhance the source power of innovation by improving the “chief leader takes charge of attracting talents” mechanism, expanding international scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation, hosting the Greater Bay Area Science Forum and building a gathering place for world-class scientific and technological innovative human resources.

Making efforts to create a talent highland in the GBA. We will thoroughly carry out “Five Projects” to make Guangdong a pool attracting talents, improve the quality and capability of independent talent training and introduce talents with a checklist of high-end and urgently needed. We will join hands with Hong Kong and Macao to connect high-end innovative talents worldwide and introduce diversified talent attraction models, such as “l(fā)iving in Hong Kong and Macao, working in Guangdong” and “researching in Hong Kong and Macao, commercializing in the GBA”. We will launch a special campaign supporting talents in the manufacturing industry and establish an industrial innovation talent alliance. We will optimize and implement the “You Yue Card” system and relieve concerns such as housing, social security and children’s education to create a first-class development environment to attract talents worldwide.

(IV) We will focus on expanding domestic demand and stabilizing external demand, actively serve and integrate into the new development pattern

Taking special actions in expanding domestic demand. We will prioritize the recovery and expansion of consumption, enhance consumer confidence and optimize the consumption environment. We will support bulk consumption such as housing improvement, new energy vehicles and green and energy-saving home appliances, encourage service consumption in catering, culture and tourism, elderly care and childcare, accelerate the cultivation of new consumption modes and develop tax-free economy, first-stop economy, sharing economy and low-altitude economy. We will support Guangzhou and Shenzhen to develop into international consumption centers, promote the transformation of six cities as regional consumption centers, cultivate a number of consumption clusters of domestic and foreign brands and carry out county business enhancement actions. We will build national logistics hubs and national backbone cold-chain logistics bases, facilitate the full-scale networking and operation of the cold-chain supply and marketing logistics backbone network, and improve the county-town-village logistics system. We will apply the same standards in domestic and foreign products from the same production line with the same quality and carry out “Guangdong Trade Nationwide” economic and trade activities to win a larger market share while contributing to forming a unified national market. We will leverage the crucial role of effective investment in stabilizing growth and arrange 1,530 key provincial construction projects throughout the year, with an annual planned investment of 1 trillion Yuan.

Expediting the construction of a modern infrastructure system. We will make all-out efforts to create a developed transportation network in Guangdong, improve the backbone of the “Three Horizontals, Six Verticals, and Two Links” comprehensive transportation network, speed up the construction of railroads, highway branches and liaison lines and advance the technical transformation of highways and railroad electrification. We will complete the construction of the Guangdong-Shantou-Shanwei High-speed Railway and pace up the construction of the Guangzhou-Zhanjiang High-speed Railway, Zhuhai-Zhaoqing High-speed Railway, Meizhou-Longchuan High-speed Railway and Eastern Guangdong Intercity Railway and conduct preliminary work of the Zhangzhou-Shanwei High-speed Railway, Meizhou-Wuping High-speed Railway, Guangzhou-Qingyuan-Yongzhou High-Speed Railway, Shenzhen-Nanning High-speed Railway and Nansha-Zhuhai-Zhongshan Intercity Railway. We will support the construction of cross-river and cross-sea channels, such as the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge, Shiziyang Tunnel and Huangmao Sea Bridge, as well as inter-provincial channels, such as Nanxiong-Xinfeng Channel and Longchuan-Xunwu Channel. We will promote the preliminary work of highway construction, such as Meizhou-Quanzhou Highway, expand and upgrade busy sections of highways, such as Shenyang-Haikou Expressway, Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, Shenzhen-Cenxi Expressway and Guangzhou-Kunming Expressway, strengthen the upgrading of ordinary national and provincial highways and improve the rural road network. We will pay special attention to renovation and expansion projects, such as the third runway of Shenzhen Airport, Zhuhai Airport and Huizhou Airport, and the preliminary work of the Pearl River Delta International Airport and Yangjiang Airport. We will promote the capacity expansion and upgrading of high-grade inland waterways, such as the northward extension projects of the Dongjiang River and Beijiang River, consolidate the advantages of Shenzhen Port and Guangzhou Port in operating container liner routes to Europe and the United States, schedule more container liners to Southeast Asia and Africa, expedite the construction of port-connected railroads in major coastal ports and develop rail-river and river-sea intermodal transport to enhance the capacity of port traffic. We will expedite the construction of major water conservancy projects, such as water resources allocation in western and eastern Guangdong, and strive to complete the Pearl River Delta Water Allocation Project. We will develop projects such as Huizhou Taipingling Nuclear Power Plant Phase I, Units 5 and 6 of Lufeng Nuclear Power Plant and Lianjiang Nuclear Power Plant Phase I. We will advance pilot programs of new-type national urban infrastructure and develop smart cities, smart transportation and smart logistics.

Promoting high-level openingup. We will implement six actions for making a major player in trade, cultivate and introduce a number of headquarters-type trade enterprises, leading cross-border e-commerce enterprises and modern trade circulation leaders, create a batch of 100 billion-yuan-level and 1 trillion-yuan-level export industry clusters and support Shantou and Zhanjiang in constructing large-scale export processing zones. We will build six import bases for bulk commodities, electronic components, aircraft, automobiles, agricultural and sideline products and medium- and high-end consumer goods, incorporate a full-license bulk commodity import and export trading company and promote the establishment of an innovative demonstration zone for import trade promotion. We will develop production-based service outsourcing and accelerate the process of recognition as a cross-provincial e-commerce demonstration province and a global trade digitization pilot area in the GBA. We will implement the strategy of upgrading the pilot free trade zone and deepen the innovation-driven development of China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone. We will expedite the construction of the new Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge trade channel. We will organize high-standard exhibitions, such as Canton Fair and High-tech Fair, and consolidate and expand the diversified markets in Europe, the United States, Japan, ROK and ASEAN. We will participate in the Belt and Road Initiative with high-quality projects, crystalize the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), strengthen the layout of overseas distribution centers, display centers and overseas warehouses and improve the quality and volume of China Railway Express trains to Europe. Never ceasing its steps of opening up, Guangdong will find vitality in opening up and strive to open the door wider.

Tapping the potential of overseas Chinese in the new era. We will promote high-level opening up with overseas Chinese as a bridge, attach equal importance to all overseas Chinese, innovate overseas Chinese-related policies and continue fostering cultural bonds, building connecting platforms, introducing beneficial policies and creating business opportunities. We will hold the World Hakka Business Conference, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao-Great Bay Area Conference for Overseas Chinese, China Overseas Chinese Investment (Guangdong) Conference and other activities to pool the support, capability and wisdom of overseas Chinese and stimulate Guangdong’s foreign exchanges and cooperation. We will accelerate the construction of the Shantou Overseas Chinese Economic and Cultural Cooperation Pilot Zone and strive to gain policy support from the Central Government for Shantou to tap the potential of overseas Chinese and promote the development of the special economic zone. We will step up Shantou’s and Jiangmen’s efforts in deepening the pilot reform on the mechanism facilitating the investment by overseas Chinese, support Meizhou and Chaozhou tapping their potential as hometowns of overseas Chinese and guide the overseas Chinese to leverage the important role of investment-led business prosperity and two-way investment. We will further protect letters sent overseas Chinese and strengthen the study of overseas Chinese culture.

(V) We will boost rural revitalization from all fronts, implement the “High-quality Development Project for Guangdong Counties, Towns and Villages” and elevate the coordinated urban-rural development to a higher level with higher quality

Advancing agricultural and rural revitalization. We will fully ensure the joint responsibility of the Party and the government for protecting arable land and ensuring food security. We will further cultivate functional areas for grain production, create 1 million mu of high-quality farmland and 50,000 mu of paddy fields transformed from dry land, restore abandoned arable land cultivation, enhance intensive cultivation, ensure the seed industry revitalization with concrete actions and maintain the stable and safe supply of grain and necessary agricultural products. We will pace up Guangdong’s transformation into a competitive agricultural province, support whole-chain upgrading of rural industries, build modern agricultural industrial parks, develop featured clusters of Simiao rice, Lingnan vegetables and fruits, Southern Chinese Medicine, tea, floral plantation, etc., and incubate more “Guangdong Brands” and products with geographical indications. We will improve the “12221” market system for agricultural products and support new business forms, such as recreational tourism, digital agriculture, prepared dishes and the agricultural microbe industry, and promote the integrated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries in rural areas. Agriculture will enjoy stronger technological and equipment support, and new technologies and production models, such as growing rice in fishponds and planting grains in orchards, will be explored. With actions to improve the modern agricultural infrastructure, we will accelerate large-scale irrigation zone construction in Dengta Basin, Leizhou Peninsula and Nanxiong Basin, upgrade and transform one million mu of aquaculture ponds, build fishing ports and vigorously develop marine ranching and offshore culture. We will maintain existing supportive policies for livestock and poultry industries and speed up the upgrading and transformation of farms. We will deepen rural reform, advocate a new-type collective economy and develop new-type agricultural businesses and commercial services. We will resolutely prevent large-scale poverty returning through continuing dynamic monitoring and providing regular assistance. We will carry out the rural construction action, optimize rural planning and ensure outcomes in the rural Toilet Revolution, domestic sewage and waste disposal and water quality enhancement in the rural supply network. We will carry forward the “Five Beautification” campaign, intensify rural building management and control, enhance the rural landscape and improve the rural governance system to nurture harmonious and beautiful villages ideal for living and businesses.

Further expanding county economies. We will coordinate efforts in prospering counties with industries, prospering the people with enhanced counties and leveraging the driving effects of downtown county areas. We will support counties in the Pearl River Delta and its surrounding areas to integrate into the development of large cities, counties with a solid industrial foundation to strengthen the leading industry, counties with important ecological functions to transform ecological advantages into industrial benefits and advocate eco-industries, counties in major agricultural production areas to enhance the comprehensive agricultural production capacity, and counties weak in comprehensive strength to accelerate the efforts in shoring up weak links in urban construction. We will support coastal counties to tap the potential of marine industries and vigorously expand the marine economy. We will cultivate a number of counties competitive in economic strength, push forward new urbanization mainly manifested in downtown county areas and support high-level expansion and quality enhancement in the downtown area. We will improve the county development promotion mechanism and strengthen the counties by delegating more powers to them. We will work to cover the 45 counties (county-level cities) in eastern, western and northern Guangdong in the assistance and collaboration program based on collaboration mechanisms such as “Bay+Belt” and “Dual Core+Dual Sub-centers” and coordinate industrial layout in 12 counties (county-level cities) in the Pearl River Delta. Stronger counties herald stronger cities, and more dynamic counties will further invigorate the whole province. We must work to secure key deliverables in developing the county economy.

Enhancing townships’ function of linking cities and villages. We will empower central towns, specialized towns and characteristic towns, support qualified towns to develop into sub-centers of their counties and small cities, create famous towns and products across the province and incubate more economically competitive towns in China. We will deepen the structural reform of towns and sub-districts and transform them into rural governance centers, service centers and economic centers, thereby enhancing their integrated service functions. We will carry forward five projects supporting supply and marketing cooperatives to link farmers and expand coverage. We will advance the beautiful market town project and connect towns and villages to form demonstration belts of rural revitalization. We will tap the potential of a town-based task force to boost the town and villages under its jurisdiction and crystallize the paired-up enhancement program between enterprises and towns/villages.

Coordinating integrated urban-rural development. We will accelerate the integration of urban and rural planning and development, infrastructure, production factor allocation, environmental protection and the provision of basic public services. With efforts in driving urban renewal and transforming old towns, factories and villages, we will take firm actions to renovate all urban villages in cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen, implement open fair improvement program, strengthen urban waterlogging treatment and strengthen urban underground infrastructure construction. We will implement a traffic access project to villages for the benefit of people, shore up weak links in rural roads, village lighting and cold chain logistics and promote the sale of agricultural products in cities and consumer goods in villages. We will establish a mechanism encouraging urban talents to work in rural areas, further build up the capability of talent teams in advancing rural revitalization, and guide industrial and commercial capital to the countryside in an orderly manner. We will deepen the reform of the rural land system, prudently promote the pilot reform of the homestead base system and deepen the pilot market trading of collective, commercial construction land. We will promote the construction of the Guangzhou-Qingyuan Connection Zone (a national pilot area of urban-rural integration and development), Shenzhen-Shantou Special Cooperation Zone and Guangzhou-Qingyuan Special Economic Cooperation Zone. We will support the development of old revolutionary base areas and those with large ethnic minority population, deepen Tibet and Xinjiang assistance projects, East-West partnerships and other paired-up collaborations.

Promoting the orderly industrial transfer. We implement the “1+14+15” policy system and support eastern, western and northern Guangdong to better undertake the orderly transfer of industries at home and abroad, especially in the Pearl River Delta in accordance with the principle of “government promotion, enterprises as the main body, market operation, and win-win cooperation”. We will develop a directory of key industries to be undertaken, implement differentiated industrial policies and targeted support policies and guide the cluster-based and characteristic industrial development. We will establish the main platform for undertaking the orderly transfer of industries at a high level, support the construction of industrial transfer cooperation parks by both sides of the paired-up collaboration, and explore the establishment of cost-sharing and benefit-sharing mechanisms. We will enhance the blood-making capability of the transferred place and create space for industrial upgrading in transferring place. We must liberate our minds and forge ahead to make this mutually beneficial and far-reaching program more effective and efficient and secure concrete results.

(VI)We will stick to the reform orientation of the socialist market economy, further integrate efficient market and effective government and work to make new headway in reforming important areas and key links.

Promoting the development of the private economy. We will work unswervingly to both consolidate and develop the public sector, encourage, support and guide the development of the non-public sector, facilitate the healthy growth of the non-public sector and encourage those working in this sector to achieve success. We will issue guidelines on driving the development of the private economy, further reduce enterprises’ institutional transaction costs and production and operating costs, ensure a well-regulated industrial housing rental market, stabilize rental prices and protect the property rights of private enterprises and the rights and interests of entrepreneurs. We will support the development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and individual businesses, improve government financing guarantee subsidies and credit risk compensation for MSMEs, support qualified micro and small enterprises to delay principal and interest repayment and improve long-acting mechanisms for preventing and tackling delinquent payment to medium and small enterprises. The private economy is the main force supporting Guangdong’s economic development. Governments at all levels should take the initiative to help private enterprises overcome difficulties with concrete actions, advocate entrepreneurship and cultivate a cordial and clean relationship between government and business to foster a business environment where all the enterprises and entrepreneurs are confident of striving with greater boldness and competing in a larger market.

Deepening the reform of state-owned capital and enterprises. We will launch special actions for the high-quality development of state-owned capital and enterprises, advance strategic restructuring and professional integration, accelerate efforts to optimize the layout of the state-owned sector and adjust its structure and work to see state-owned capital and enterprises get stronger, better and bigger. We will support state-owned enterprises in indigenous innovation, encourage provincial state-owned enterprises to develop sources of original technologies and enhance the core competitiveness of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). We will improve the modern corporate governance of SOEs with Chinese characteristics and run those enterprises strictly according to market mechanisms. We will strengthen state-owned capital supervision based mainly on capital management and improve the investment supervision mechanism and the performance assessment system for high-quality development.

Deepening comprehensive business environment reform. We will implement the regulations on improving the business environment, support Guangzhou and Shenzhen to become national pilot cities in innovating business environment, enhance weaknesses in the business environment of cities in eastern, western and northern Guangdong through benchmarking and create an international, market-oriented and law-based business environment. We will carry out a comprehensive pilot reform for the market-based allocation of production factors to enable the orderly flow of the land, labor, capital, technologies and other factors. We will further reforms to streamline administration and delegate power, improve regulation, and upgrade services, perfect the authority and responsibility list of government departments and the list of matters subject to administrative permission, move forward in a coordinated manner with the reform of separating operating permits from business licenses and the “one business license for all” reform, and advance the reform of the business registration and confirmation system. A new-type regulatory mechanism based on credit will be established, and regulations for “Two Randoms and One Release” will be fortified, thereby ensuring honest businesses are not troubled by unnecessary regulations and lawbreakers and dishonest businesses are always under supervision. We will actively create a fair competing environment and treat various market entities equally, injecting confidence for SOEs to forge ahead, private enterprises to break new grounds and foreign businesses to invest.

Intensively advancing “Digital Government 2.0”. We will further optimize the standardization, normalization and convenience of the government services provided through the “One Portal for all Government Services”, enrich the application of “One Online Platform for Comprehensive Governance” for provincial governance, deepen “One Province-wide OA Platform” and the digital organ enhancement project for government operations, and facilitate the direct access to data resources at the grassroots level through the Data Sharing and Exchange System. We will further build the series of Yue (Guangdong) platforms and roll out a number of iconic industry applications. We will pursue balanced development of the basic abilities of digital governments and improve integrated infrastructure and intrinsic safety protection systems. We will establish the province-wide data service network and publishing and sharing platforms of computing resources.

Further reforming investment and financing systems. We will promote the “commitment system”, conduct dynamic adjustment of items subject to administrative examination, approval and registration, and implement the joint examination and approval mechanism for major projects. We will promote standardized guidelines for preparatory work in important fields and provide throughout-the-process consulting services for major projects. We will plan and stock a number of strategic pillar projects and endeavor to get them included in the national program. We will fully use special-purpose bonds by local governments and policy-based and developmental financial instruments and advance the pilot project of real estate investment trusts in infrastructure. We will encourage input from all sectors through government investment and policy incentives, relax market access for private investment, create more scenarios for private capital investment and encourage and attract more private capital to participate in major projects and those for shoring up weak links.

Deepening reforms of the fiscal, taxation and financial systems. We will improve the modern budget system, leverage the effectiveness of fiscal funds and increase the financial support for major strategies and assignments. We will delineate the fiscal authority and expenditure responsibility of the government at different levels, improve the transfer payment mechanism based on the principle of “targeted fund granting” and promote financial reform below the provincial level. We will establish a long-acting mechanism for guaranteeing counties’ financial resources and tighten up the bottom line of “Three Guarantees” at the grassroots level. We will further implement the tax collection and management reform to develop an efficient and unified new mode of tax collection and administration system. To develop a multi-level capital market, we will support the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in conducting the market-wide registration reform, assist the Guangzhou Futures Exchange in developing and creating a complete futures industry chain and help the Guangdong Equity Exchange with the regional equity market system and pilot business innovation. We will guide financial institutions to further support small and micro enterprises, scientific and technological innovation and green development and increase the proportion of long and medium-term loans to the manufacturing industry to enhance the efficiency of finance serving the real economy.

(VII) We will highlight the leading role of the Green and Beautiful Guangdong Campaign and boost ecological development.

Effectively advancing ecological conservation under the Green and Beautiful Guangdong Campaign. We will take “Six Actions” for ecological conservation under the Green and Beautiful Guangdong Campaign, fully implement the forest chief system, transform forest stands and improve forest forms of low-efficiency forests in key eco-regions, adjust tree species and forest structures based on local conditions, cultivate multi-functional high-quality forest stands and beautiful forest forms in a centralized manner and encourage Guangdong cities to develop into national forest cities. We will implement major biodiversity protection projects, intensify bio-safety management, advance the establishment of Nanling National Forest Park and Danxiashan National Park, build South China National Botanical Garden and Shenzhen International Mangrove Center with high standards, strengthen wetland protection and water and soil conservation and make progress in green mine governance and ecological barrier building in coastal zones. We will improve the ecological protection compensation system, the ecological supervision system and the value realization mechanism for ecological products. The green hills will not fail people when people don’t fail them. Based on our great efforts and perseverance, we are sure that the mountains will be greener and the waters will be clearer in Guangdong.

Keeping our skies blue, waters clear and lands pollution-free. We will launch a campaign to comprehensively improve air quality, take coordinated measures to control various pollutants, pool regional prevention and control efforts, take precise measures to abate ozone pollution and strengthen pollution control of diesel vehicles and trucks to initially eliminate heavily polluted weather. We will fully implement the system of river and lake chiefs, coordinate the management of water resources, water environment and water ecology, maintain pleasant rivers and lakes and beautiful bays and develop new types of business with a green water economy. We will ensure all urban sewage pipeline networks are under effective management and intensify non-point source pollution treatment in rural areas. We will take serious measures to treat severe pollution in key rivers, reservoirs, branches and black and malodorous water bodies in both urban and rural areas and expand their ecological capacity, striving to achieve an excellent section rate of above 90% in the national assessment over the quality of surface water cross-sections. We will promote the comprehensive treatment of waters at the Pearl River Estuary and steadily increase the proportion of excellent coastal sea areas. The construction of household waste-burning facilities will be accelerated. We will finish our assignments under the third national soil survey and intensify new pollutant governance.

Accelerating the transition to a green development model. We will strictly implement the “Three Spaces and Three Lines” program, better plan and control the use of territorial space and complete territorial spacial planning in cities and counties. We will improve the green and low-carbon policy system and drive emission source reduction, cleaner production, resource recycling and end-of-pipe treatment. Efforts will be made to encourage research and development, promotion and application of advanced technologies for energy conservation, carbon emission reduction, and water conservation and to support building models of green plants, green products, green industrial parks and green supply chains. We will promote green buildings and further integrate the intelligent manufacturing and building industrialization. We will steadily and prudently move towards peak carbon dioxide emissions and carbon neutrality, expedite the planning and construction of new-type energy systems, develop new and clean energies, such as offshore wind power and pumped storage, and expedite the implementation of energy storage battery projects. We will vigorously develop the new-type energy storage industry, explore new scenarios of integrated energy storage development and pace up the establishment of the GBA carbon market. We will advance the building of waste-free cities, carry out the whole-chain solid waste control within the whole province and enhance the disposal capacity of aluminum ash slag, abraum salt and construction waste. We will promote comprehensive control of stone desertification. We promote simple and moderate lifestyles and enhance the social consciousness of ecological environment protection.

(VIII) We will enhance cultural confidence and self-improvement and build up Guangdong’s prominence in culture with higher standards.

Extensively applying the core socialist values. We will earnestly implement the publicity program of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and promote studies on “the Four Histories”. We will advance the integration of ideological and political education in universities, primary schools and secondary schools to forge a keen sense of national identity. We will make good use of “red” resources, such as revolutionary relics, revolutionary sites and memorials, and establish the Long March National Culture Park (Guangdong Section). We will promote the development of the philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics. We will further cultivate the whole-media communication system. We will continue the civic morality campaign, carry forward traditional Chinese virtues, elevate public civility to a new level, promote the establishment of civilized cities, polish the brand of “Volunteer Guangdong” and mass reading, making civility everywhere in Guangdong.

Strengthening the supply of high-quality culture. We will implement plans for supporting the creation of quality art productions, further the reform of state-owned art troupes, nurture a great number of famous literary and artistic masters of both moral and artistic stature and create more fine masterpieces with national influence. We will provide more high-quality public cultural services, launch new public-benefit cultural programs and build new cultural landmarks such as the Bai’etan Greater Bay Area Art Center and Shenzhen Opera House to improve the service efficiency of public cultural facilities.

Advancing the establishment of a modern cultural industrial system. We will conduct the cultural digitization strategy, accelerate the development of new cultural enterprises, cultural business forms and cultural consumption patterns and vigorously develop the 4K/8K film and TV industry and digital publishing to build a hub of digital culture. We will strengthen the creative design industry and build new centers of cultural creativity. Major cultural industrial projects will be carried out as a development drive, and active efforts will be made to cultivate leading cultural and creative enterprises. We will ensure the successful holding of China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair, Guangzhou Cultural Industry Fair and China International Animation Copyright Fair and improve the modern cultural market system. We will promote the in-depth integration of culture and tourism, develop more quality tourist routes and promote the development of the GBA cultural circle and world-class tourist destinations.

Carrying forward fine traditional culture. We will further protect and activate cultural heritage, explore original Lingnan cultures, better protect and use the “Nanhai I Shipwreck”, and commence the archeological excavation of the “Nan’ao II Shipwreck”. More efforts will be devoted to the preservation, inheritance and utilization of ancient books. We will implement the “Two Creative” program on Lingnan culture in new ways and protect, repair and activate famous historical and cultural cities, towns, villages, blocks and buildings. We will further build featured brands of Lingnan opera, Lingnan fine arts and Guangdong music, conduct live inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, such as lion dance, dragon boats, Cantonese embroidery, pottery and stone art, and support Meizhou and Chaozhou to apply for the title of national cultural and ecological reserves. Intensive efforts will be devoted to international communication, making the stories of China, the GBA and Guangdong known to the world.

Speeding up the establishment of Guangdong’s strength in sports. The fitness-for-all program will be carried out extensively. To that end, we will facilitate the construction of public sports facilities and promote free or low-price entry. We will deepen the integration of sports and education and improve sports education for youth. We will support Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Meizhou in their high-quality construction of the nation’s key soccer cities. We will work hard to prepare the teams for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics and the Asian Games Hangzhou and join hands with Hong Kong and Macao to advance the preparations for the 2025 National Games and the National Games for Persons with Disabilities. In this process, we will focus on athletes’ conduct and discipline and promote Chinese sportsmanship. We will develop sports manufacturing and sports services, promote consumption in sports and actively build international and regional sports event brands.

(IX)We will improve the well-being and quality of life of our people and move steadily toward common prosperity

Promoting high-quality and adequate employment. We will implement preferential employment policies in detail and optimize policies for phased burden reduction and employment stabilization and expansion. We will also provide more support for the wide-covering and job-supporting services industry, MSMEs and individual businesses. We will promote employment for young people, especially university graduates and put them in a more prominent position. We will ensure that key groups, such as rural migrant workers and people lifted out of poverty, can keep their jobs, provide more job-seeking assistance to maintain subsistence for those in need and improve the public employment service system. We will improve the lifelong vocational skill training system and implement the plan of “consolidating the basic skillsets and cultivating high-level talent” in technician education with more integrated development of technical education and vocational education. We will accelerate the nurturing of a large team of high-caliber industrial workers by carrying out the foundation project for industrial skills. We will improve the system for supporting start-ups and flexible employment, support and regulate the development of new forms of employment, promote the development of gig markets and improve policies to eliminate default in salary payments. Employment is essential to people’s livelihood, and people will be willing to lead a promising life with stable employment. Therefore, we need to ensure stable employment for the “stable happiness” of all citizens.

Consolidating social security network. We will continue to work on the multi-tiered old-age insurance system, realize the unified national management of old-age insurance for enterprise employees, boost occupational and enterprise annuities, develop the third-pillar old-age insurance in a regulated way and steadily advance preliminary progress of individual pensions and pilot projects of specific retirement saving products. We will implement the provincial-level management of basic old-age insurance funds for urban and rural residents and steadily improve social security benefits. We will advance the unified provincial-level management of basic medical insurance, implement the list-based system for medical insurance treatment, put into effect the reform of general support for covering outpatient medical bills for employees, improve policies on critical illness insurance and medical assistance, comprehensively carry on the reform of medical insurance payments, provide more efficient direct settlement services and expand the coverage of on-the-spot settlement of outpatient bills for those seeking treatment outside their places of insurance payment. We will promote all-purpose social security cards for residents. We will pace up the coordinated development of elderly care programs and related industries and encourage establishing a basic elderly care service system. We will optimize the mechanism of social assistance and philanthropy. Child welfare institutions will be encouraged to upgrade themselves and provide high-quality services. We will protect the legitimate rights and interests of women and children and promote the all-around development of undertakings for the disabled.

Accelerating the building of a healthy Guangdong. We will speed up our work in making Guangdong a model province of high-quality development in terms of medical care and people’s health. We will deepen reforms of medical and healthcare systems, set up county-level medical communities featuring integrated management of personnel, funds and facilities and work to accelerate and expand the collective procurement of drugs and medical consumables to promote the coordinated development and management of medical care, medical insurance and medicine. We will work to build a national highland of medical care, put in plan the goal of building a comprehensive medical base of scale and high standard and promote national pilot programs for the high-quality development of public hospitals. We are determined to support the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University and the Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine in obtaining the approval of national medical centers. We will promote further progress in collaborative projects among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, such as the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital and build a national demonstration zone for comprehensive traditional Chinese medicine reforms. We will continue to deepen a new round of plans to improve the grassroots capacity of providing medical and health services and effectively increase the medical resources in rural and underdeveloped areas. We will devote more efforts to the management of major chronic diseases and improve the service systems for the health of women, children and the elderly, and for occupational, psychological and mental health. We will consolidate the serious pandemic prevention and control system and build up emergency response abilities. We will create regional public health centers at the state level and advance the establishment of provincial public medical centers. We will earnestly implement all pandemic prevention and control measures in the new stage according to the requirements from the overall scheme of managing COVID-19 with measures against Class B infectious diseases and improve the hierarchical diagnosis and treatment mechanism to ensure sufficient medical services and medicines for average citizens. We will work hard to ensure residents’ health and prevent severe cases. We will carry out a patriotic sanitation campaign and encourage residents to lead a civilized and healthy lifestyle.

Consolidating military-government and military-civilian cooperation. We will thoroughly implement the reform on province-city-county national defense mobilization mechanism, intensify national defense mobilization and reserve force building and strengthen military-civilian integration, civilian support for the military, national defense education, civil defense and coastal defense. We will promote the “Double List” mechanism where the military and civilians can send requests and offer service to each other to enable paired and common development of the military and civil society. We will improve the capacity of veteran service centers and deepen the reform of public institutions aimed at providing special care to veterans. Support will be given to military personnel and their families, and veterans will be provided with adequate living and employment guarantees. We will further stimulate a sense of honor in military personnel and their families and better protect their rights and interests to create an atmosphere in the whole society to respect military personnel.

Delivering Ten Livelihood Programs of Guangdong. First, conducting three projects of “Cantonese Chef”, “Guangdong Technician” and “Nan Yue Housekeeper"; second, improving birth support policies; third, advancing the construction of subsidized housing in urban areas; fourth, vigorously promoting the development of a system of healthcare and elderly care services; fifth, furthering the construction, management, maintenance and operation of roads and domestic sewage treatment in rural areas; sixth, intensifying safety supervision and testing of food and drugs; seventh, running “worry-free consumption in Guangdong” campaign; eighth, reinforcing damaged and dangerous reservoirs and controlling potential geological disasters hazards; ninth, increasing the basic living allowance for those enjoying the minimum living guarantee, people in severe poverty and orphans, and the two subsidies for the disabled; tenth, making enterprise- and resident-benefiting services more accessible. We should provide high-quality services for our people, focus on the social security of the elderly and the young and create favorable conditions for children to grow healthily and for the elderly to enjoy a happy life.

(X) We will reinforce our actions on preventing and defusing major risks and ensure overall peace and social stability

Effectively preventing and defusing major economic and financial risks. We will properly handle debt risks related to real estate enterprises, implement the “16 Financial Measures”, meet the reasonable financing demand of the real estate industry and guarantee people’s livelihoods and stability, including the delivery of presold housing, ensuring smooth development of the real estate industry. We will implement city-specific policies to satisfy residents’ basic housing demands or demands for improved living conditions. We will help new citizens and young people with their housing problems and explore the establishment of a long-term housing rental market. We stand firm on the position that houses are for the living, not for speculation and promote a smooth transition of the real estate industry to new development patterns. We will strengthen financial regulation, risk monitoring and early warning, establish a financial stability guarantee system and take concrete actions to prevent and defuse risks posed by high-risk local corporate financial institutions and risks of illegal fund-raising.

Taking effective measures to improve public security governance. We will earnestly ensure production safety accountability. We will focus safety monitoring on traffic, urban natural gas facilities, self-built housing, hazardous chemicals, fire-fighting facilities, water transportation and fishing boats and check hidden dangers for high-rise buildings, tower cranes and village industrial parks. A three-year action will be initiated to ensure levee revetments meet standards and medium and large sluices are reinforced and free from hazards. We will improve the system and mechanism, such as a coordinated national and provincial emergency response and a four-pronged emergency disposal plan for large emergencies. We will improve the emergency management capacity at the grassroots level to enhance emergency rescue. Progress will be seen in constructing the national emergency rescue center in southeastern China and the provincial emergency rescue center. We will reinforce disaster protection, risk monitoring and early warning abilities and spare no effort to ensure the peace and safety of people in Guangdong.

Building a safe Guangdong with a better rule of law. We will reinforce systematic and comprehensive governance and governance from the source and further modernize social governance. The “Fengqiao Model” for a new era will be upheld and promoted. We will improve the grassroots governance system and unclog and better regulate channels for people’s appeals, interests coordination and rights protection. We will intensify and improve petition and mediation channels for citizens, optimize comprehensive mechanisms for preventing, dealing with and resolving social conflicts in multiple ways and resolve problems and conflicts without delay at the grassroots level and the initial stage. We will build up the organization and mobilization capacities of our villages (communities) and upgrade grid-based, meticulous and IT-based governance at the grassroots level. We will make progress on building the system of prevention and control of public security problems, normalize the campaign against gangsters and organized crimes, severely punish illegal and criminal activities which people complain strongly, such as Internet fraud, cross-border gambling, illegal migration and smuggling, and resolve prominent drug-related problems. We will innovate and improve effective ways for people to participate in social governance and build a shared community of social governance where everyone fulfills their responsibilities and shares in the benefits. We will fully implement the “One Plan and Two Outlines” on the rule of law, facilitate local legislation of key areas and emerging fields and carry out Guangdong’s eighth five-year plan on law popularization to protect high-quality development with a more effective legal guarantee.

IV. Comprehensively Strengthening Government Self-improvement

On the new journey in the new era, we must bear in mind that full and rigorous self-governance is an unceasing endeavor and that self-reform is a journey to which there is no end. We must keep in mind the three imperatives, namely the imperative of never forgetting our original aspiration and founding mission, of always staying modest, prudent and hard-working, and of carrying on our fight with courage and ability. We will continue to transform the functions of government, modernize the system and capacity for governance and strive to build a government that is satisfactory to the people.

Strengthening the overall leadership of the Party. We must uphold Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to unite our people. We need to gain a profound understanding of the decisive significance of establishing Comrade Xi Jinping’s core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and defining the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We should keep firmly in mind the top priorities of the country, be keenly aware 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, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics, uphold General Secretary 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 keep enhancing our capacity for political judgment, thinking and implementation and keep in alignment with the theories, guidelines, principles and policies of the Central Party leadership.

Stepping up law-based administration. We will promote whole-process people’s democracy and report to the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress and its standing committee. We will submit ourselves to the oversight of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress, the democratic oversight of the CPPCC, oversight through discipline inspection and supervision organs, public oversight and oversight through public opinion. We will proactively listen to the views of other political parties, federations of industry and commerce, public figures without party affiliation and people’s organizations. We will carry out the building of a demonstration government for law-based administration, strictly follow procedures in major administrative decision-making, and make sure all government actions are taken according to law.

Enhancing capabilities. We will guide officials to foster a correct attitude towards performance and strengthen their ability politically, practically, and professionally. Officials are encouraged to enhance their “Eight Capacities” and “Seven Abilities” and constantly improve their political competence, strategic vision and professionalism. We will enhance the ability to promote high-quality development, serve the people and guard against and defuse risks. We should have the courage to fight and the mettle to win and break new ground with tenacious fights.

Intensifying the building of a clean government. We will uphold strict standards to regulate our officials’ conduct and discipline, be resolute in winning a tough and protracted battle against corruption, and work together to ensure that our officials dare not, cannot and do not want to commit corruption. We will strictly apply integrity and financial disciplines and strengthen oversight in areas where power, capital and resources are concentrated. We are determined to crack down on corruption and corrupt practices in society. We will continue to comply with the central leadership’s eight-point decision on improving work conduct and its implementation rules. We will unremittingly rectify the practices of pointless formalities, bureaucratism, hedonism, and extravagance. We will keep reducing burdens for those working at the grassroots level and care about them so that they have more time and energy to seek development and fulfill assignments. We will strengthen audit-based and statistical oversight and earnestly carry out the fifth national economic census. We will continue to work hard and frugally in all undertakings and tighten the government’s budget to further improve people’s lives.

Fellow Deputies! To promote modernization to a higher level, governments at all levels across the province must keep working hard and striving forward. We must keep in mind that it is a life-long shame for officials to evade responsibilities. We need to face difficulties squarely and shoulder responsibility bravely in the arena of high-quality development with an energetic state of mind and enterprising spirits. We should keep in mind that empty talk harms the country while hard work helps it thrive and carry out tasks vigorously and resolutely. We should work with a sense of urgency as time waits for no man. If a task can be done in a day, we should never postpone it to the next day. We should attain to the broad and great while addressing the delicate and minute. We should have the wisdom to keep a big picture in mind and focus on solving problems at the grassroots level despite difficulties. We should work hard and work smart to make new achievements with new actions.

Fellow Deputies! Spring comes early in Guangdong, and it is an opportune time to work hard. Let’s rally even closer around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core and earnestly study and implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress. We will follow the work plan made at the Second Plenary Session of the 13th CPC Guangdong Committee, stay confident, innovative, diligent and resolute in striving to be a forerunner on the journey by creating new glories and making greater contributions to building a modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts!

Appendix 1

Ten Livelihood Programs of Guangdong Province for 2023

1. Conducting three projects of “Cantonese Chef”, “Guangdong Technician” and “Nan Yue Housekeeper”.We will provide “Cantonese Chef” training for over 40,000 people, enroll over 190,000 new students into technical colleges and make sure over 500,000 of the labor force can obtain new vocational qualifications or skill certificates by supporting their active participation in vocational skills training. “Nan Yue Housekeeper” training programs will be organized for more than 160,000 people.

2. Improving birth support policies. We will provide more than 500,000 women of appropriate age with one free screening for breast cancer and cervical cancer, increasing the rate of early diagnosis and treatment of these two cancers. Free prenatal screening for thalassemia, Down syndrome, and severe lethal and disabling malformations will be available for 640,000 pregnant women. Public kindergartens will provide 60,000 more seats, and every preschooler will be granted no less than 500 Yuan on average per academic year. We will strive to increase the proportion of public kindergarten children and the proportion of children in public and inclusive private kindergartens to 50% and 83%, respectively. We will build 21 integrated management centers of urban-rural preschool education resources, with key kindergartens in towns and villages taking the lead in mobilizing other kindergartens within the towns for better teaching and research activities, standardized management and better education quality.

3. Making progress in the construction of subsidized housing in urban areas. We will speed up building rental housing in major cities, with no less than 220,000 new units of such housing to effectively help new citizens, young people and other groups with their housing problems. Urban subsidized rental housing subsidies will be provided to at least 30,000 households, and renovation of at least 1,100 more old urban residential compounds will get underway.

4. Vigorously promoting the development of a system of healthcare and elderly care services. The number of institutions providing integrated medical and nursing care will be increased, with over 30% of the elderly aged 65 and above receiving such services. We will promote contracted family doctor services, with more than 60% of the elderly aged 65 and above receiving standardized health management services in urban and rural communities. A total of 64 new community (village)-based psychological care projects will be initiated to provide psychological care for the elderly. Elderly-oriented renovations will be carried out for 22,000 elderly families with special difficulties.

5. Furthering the construction, management, maintenance and operation of roads and domestic sewage treatment in rural areas. More than 3,868 kilometers of rural roads will be built or upgraded, 248 old and dangerous rural bridges (including three bridges built to replace ferry stations) will be comprehensively renovated, and 1,000 kilometers of village roads will be made safer to protect people’s life and safety. Rural domestic sewage will be treated based on local conditions, with domestic sewage treatment in 1,000 more natural villages upgraded.

6. Intensifying safety supervision and testing of food and drugs. We will conduct at least 9,000 spot checks on suppliers of students’ meals, covering on-site examination and assessment and food quality and safety monitoring. No less than 8 million quick tests will be carried out on edible agricultural products in farmer’s markets, with the sampling rate of food reaching 5.5 batches per one thousand persons. At least 15,000 batches of sampling inspection will be conducted in terms of drug supervision while the sampling inspection will cover 100% of products produced in Guangdong that win the bidding in national centralized procurement.

7.Running “worry-free consumption in Guangdong” campaign. We will promote the participation of well-known blocks (business districts), restaurants, e-commerce platforms and high-quality farmers’ markets in the worry-free consumption campaign. Eight thousand more entities will make worry-free consumption commitments, and 3,000 stores will pledge to no-hassle returns for offline shopping. We will handle consumer complaints more efficiently, increasing the rates of on-time complaint settlement and tip-off verification on the 12315 platform to 95% or above.

8. Reinforcing damaged and dangerous reservoirs and controlling potential geological disaster hazards. We will comprehensively reinforce 12 large- and medium-sized and 826 small damaged and dangerous reservoirs, completing the reinforcement task of existing dangerous reservoirs two years ahead of schedule. We will carry out engineering maintenance in 20 potential locations for large-scale-or-above geological disasters and complete a 1:10000 geological disaster risk survey in 30 key towns covering an area of 3,000 square kilometers.

9. Increasing basic living allowances for subsistence allowance recipients, people with extreme difficulties and orphans and the two subsidies for the disabled. The per capita compensation for monthly subsistence allowances will be raised from 653 Yuan to 676 Yuan for urban recipients and from 300 Yuan to 311 Yuan for rural recipients. The basic living standard of people with extreme difficulties will not be lower than 1.6 times the local minimum living standard. The minimum per capita monthly living allowance for orphans raised in orphanages will increase from 1,949 Yuan to 2,017 Yuan, and that for those in individual households (including children with AIDS) and de facto orphans from 1,313 Yuan to 1,359 Yuan. Living allowances for impoverished people with disabilities will be raised from 188 Yuan to 195 Yuan, and nursing subsidies for the severely disabled from 252 Yuan to 261 Yuan per person per month.

10. Making enterprise- and resident-benefiting services more convenient. We will integrate market entities’ demand response platforms into the Yue Sheng Xin, a one-stop case acceptance and processing system, to enable 24/7 case response and acceptance, supervision throughout the process, and settlement within a limited time. We will create more than 50 classes of intelligent demand response scenarios, based on which the classified demand response will be 20% faster. More “Yue Zhi Zhu” smart terminals for government services will be deployed at the grassroots level and provide at least 200 frequently used services such as household administration, traffic administration, social security, medical insurance, housing fund, medical registration and services for the elderly and the disabled. Rural residents can acquire such services without leaving their villages. We will open the province-wide 12355 youth hotline to provide youth in Guangdong with undifferentiated, standardized and high-quality services including psychological counselling, legal assistance, and living assistance.

Appendix 2

Explanation of Terms

1. “3+4+8” World-class Airport Cluster: 3 refers to three international airports, namely Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, Shenzhen Bao’an Airport and Pearl River Delta (Guangzhou New) Airport . 4 refers to four regional hub airports, namely Zhuhai Jinwan Airport, Jieyang Chaoshan Airport, Zhanjiang Wuchuan Airport and Huizhou Pingtan Airport. 8 refers to eight feeder airports, namely Meizhou Meixian Airport, Shaoguan Airport, Yangjiang Airport, Yunfu Airport, Zhaoqing Huaiji Airport, Qingyuan Lianzhou Airport, Heyuan Airport and Shanwei Airport.

2. Hong Kong and Macao Medicine and Equipment Connect: Under new regulations on drugs and medical devices, medicines urgently needed in clinical treatment and already in the Hong Kong and Macao markets, as well as medical devices urgently needed in clinical treatment, already purchased by and used at public hospitals in Hong Kong and Macao and having found advanced clinical application, can be permitted by Guangdong Provincial People’s Government for use at qualified medical institutions in the mainland part of the GBA.

3. “Double 15%” preferential policy in Hengqin: Corporate income tax for eligible industrial enterprises in the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin can be reduced to 15%. High-end and urgently-needed talents employed in the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone are entitled to the individual income tax rate of 15% with the excessive part exempted.

4. “Three Spaces and Three Lines”: Agricultural, ecological and urban spaces; the bottom line for permanent fundamental farmland, the red line for ecological conservation and the periphery line for urban development.

5. “Three guarantees” at the grassroots level: Guarantee basic living standards, wages and normal operation at the grassroots level.

6. The “per mu” evaluation: A comprehensive evaluation system using value addition per mu and tax income per mu as the core indicators is implemented. Based on the evaluation results, it guides technology, talents, capital, land and other element resources to gather in quality enterprises and regions to promote the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry.

7. The main framework of the integrated, multidimensional transportation network of “three horizontals, six verticals, and two links”: “Three horizontals” refers to the Coastal Corridor, the Shanghai-Guangzhou-Xijiang River Corridor and the Shantou-Kunming Horizontal Corridor; the “six verticals” refers to the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Corridor, the Beijing-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Corridor, the Guangdong-Guizhou-Sichuan Corridor, the Guangdong-Hunan-Chongqing Corridor, the Erenhot-Zhanjiang Corridor and the Eastern Guangdong Northward Corridor; “two links” refers to the Shanwei Northward Corridor and the Western Guangdong Northward Corridor.

8. “Six Major Actions” to build trade prominence: Actions for export market promotion, trade hub construction, new types of trade acceleration, integrating domestic and foreign investment attraction, leading institutional opening up and trade resilience enhancement.

9. Five Projects of Supply and Demand Cooperatives Extending Cooperation with Farmers: The project of village supply and demand cooperatives, township supply and demand cooperatives, county agricultural assistance service platforms, supply and marketing farms and specialized farmer cooperatives, and agricultural industrialization consortium cooperating with farmers.

10. One Portal for all Government Services: With standardized government services at all levels, the unified service application portal and the application of big data, artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies, it comprehensively optimizes the application processes to provide citizens with online, one-stop services at fingertips.

11. One Online Platform for Comprehensive Governance: With the integrated Internet platform and the smart sensing system, it coordinates digital governance resources to enhance the government’s ability to perform duties online in areas of economic regulation, market supervision, social management, public services, ecological conservation and environmental protection, so that the provincial governance that is “perceptible, visible, controllable and governable” can be realized.

12. One Province-wide OA Platform: With Yue Zheng Yi mobile office as the hub connecting all government departments in the province, it can build a work collaboration system linking all five administrative levels, namely, the province, city, county, town and village, to improve the digitalization of governance.

13. A Data Sharing and Exchange System: With the establishment of an integrated data sharing and exchange system covering public management and service institutions at all levels, it can provide unified and standardized data services for departments at all levels to fully empower government departments to perform their duties and help deepen the reform of market allocation of data elements.

14. “Six Actions” for ecological conservation under the Green and Beautiful Guangdong Campaign: Actions for precise improvement of forest quality improvement, urban-rural integrated green landscaping, green landscaping in protected areas, green channels, protection of ancient and famous trees, and public education.

15. The Four Histories: The history of the Communist Party of China, the history of the People’s Republic of China, the history of China’s Reform and Opening up, and the history of Socialist development.

16. One Plan and Two Outlines in the Rule of Law: The Plan to Develop Guangdong Under the Rule of Law (2021 to 2025), the Outline for the Implementation of the Rule of Law Society in Guangdong (2021 to 2025) and the Outline for the Construction of Law-based Government (2021 to 2025).

17. Enhance Eight Capacities and Strengthen Seven Abilities: Enhance capacities in learning, political leadership, reform and innovation, scientific development, law-based governance, work with the people, policy implementation, and risk management; strengthen political competence, abilities in research and study, decision-making, reform and problem-solving, response to emergencies, engaging with the masses and implementation of policy measures.