Moderator Hua Qing: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the press conference of the State Council Information Office! This morning we have Mr. Hu Xiaoyi, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and Mr. Wang Yadong, Deputy Director General of the Employment Promotion Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. Please ask them to brief you on the progress of China's employment and social security work in the first half of this year, and to answer questions of interest to you.
Now let's start with Minister Hu's introduction.
Hu Xiaoyi: Good morning, ladies, gentlemen and comrades of the press! It's a great pleasure to meet with friends from the press and exchange views with them on the progress of employment and social security work in the first half of this year. In the following, I will briefly introduce the situation.
Hu Xiaoyi: In terms of employment, in the face of the rare impact of the international financial crisis, the Chinese government has placed employment work in the overall economic and social development in a more prominent position, and formulated and introduced a series of policies and measures to stabilize and expand employment. Local departments pay close attention to the implementation of the policies, all kinds of enterprises to fulfill their responsibilities as far as possible not layoffs or layoffs, so the first half of the country's employment situation has remained basically stable.
Hu Xiaoyi: Strengthening the employment of key groups of people, the employment of college graduates in the employment of the first place, while organizing and carrying out the "Spring Breeze Action" and other activities to promote the employment of migrant workers, and to strengthen the employment services for migrant workers returning to their hometowns. Re-employment assistance and private enterprise recruitment activities have been carried out with remarkable results. Policy support for self-employment has been strengthened, and 82 cities nationwide have launched comprehensive efforts to promote entrepreneurship-led employment. A system of rapid surveys of employment data has been established in a timely manner, and special inspections of employment work have been carried out in various regions.
Hu Xiaoyi: In terms of social security, in the first half of this year, the reform of various social insurance systems has been successfully promoted. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued an important document on deepening the reform of the medical and health system, the basic medical insurance system for urban residents has been fully launched, and a breakthrough has been made in solving the problem of the participation of retirees of closed and bankrupt enterprises in medical insurance. The State Council has considered and adopted in principle the guiding opinions on the launching of a new type of rural pension insurance pilot program. Twenty-five provinces nationwide have implemented provincial-level coordination of pension insurance. Adjustments to the basic pensions of enterprise retirees were fully implemented before the Spring Festival, with a per capita increase of 110 yuan per month, and the level of payment of basic medical insurance benefits for urban workers and residents has also continued to rise. At the same time, in response to the international financial crisis, the implementation of social insurance five deferred payment and four reduced fee rate policy, to help enterprises to tide over temporary difficulties and stabilize the employment situation.
Hu Xiaoyi: That's all for now. Below, my colleagues and I would like to answer your questions. Thank you!
Huaqing: Thank you, Minister Hu. Please report the news organizations you represent before asking questions.
Wall Street Journal reporter: In the information you just sent out, you mentioned that the Ministry of Labor and Social Security has conducted a special research on the employment of migrant workers after the Spring Festival, can you introduce us to the preliminary results of the research and the employment situation of migrant workers at that time?
Hu Xiaoyi: I'd like to ask my colleague, Mr. Wang, to answer this question. Our ministry is now called the "Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security", no longer the "Ministry of Labor Security". Thank you.
Wang Yadong: In order to do a good job in the employment of migrant workers affected by the financial crisis, before and after the Spring Festival, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, together with the National Bureau of Statistics, did a research on the employment of migrant workers, and the general situation is: By the end of 2008, the total number of migrant workers employed nationwide was 225 million, of which 140 million were out of the country. Before the Spring Festival in 2009, about 50% of the migrant workers returned to their hometowns, amounting to 70 million people, of which 18 million needed to solve the employment problem. After the Spring Festival, 95 percent of the rural migrant workers returned to the city for employment, while the remaining 5 percent took up jobs in rural areas and started their own businesses in the countryside.
CCTV reporter: Hello Minister Hu, the State Council executive meeting has considered and adopted in principle the "guidance on the development of new rural social pension insurance pilot", may I ask when to start the pilot? What is the difference between the new rural insurance and the old rural insurance? What is the significance of launching the new rural insurance?
Hu Xiaoyi: The State Council's executive meeting has considered and adopted in principle the guidance for the pilot program of the new rural insurance, and the guidance for the pilot program is now soliciting the opinions of governments around the world, and is ready to be formally released for the launch of the pilot program after it is further revised and improved. I expect the launch of the pilot will be before the "eleventh".
Hu Xiaoyi: When it comes to the difference between the new rural insurance policy and the old rural insurance policy practiced in some places in the past, I think there are a few points: first of all, the financing structure is different. In the past, the old rural insurance was mainly paid by the farmers themselves, which was actually a self-saving mode. One of the biggest differences in the new rural insurance is the combination of individual contributions, collective subsidies and government subsidies, which are three financing channels. In particular, the central government subsidizes the local government, and this subsidy is directly subsidized to the farmers. I think it is following the abolition of agricultural tax, agricultural direct subsidies, new rural cooperative medical policy after a series of policies to benefit farmers, another major policy to benefit farmers.
Hu Xiaoyi: Second, the old rural insurance is mainly to establish farmers' accounts, the new rural insurance in the payment structure is designed in two parts: one part is the basic pension, and one part is the personal account of the pension. The basic pension is fully guaranteed to be paid by the state treasury. In other words, it means that all Chinese farmers will enjoy a universal state pension after the age of 60. Of course, the new rural insurance policy is to be gradually rolled out after it has been perfected through pilots, and it doesn't mean that everyone will be able to receive money from tomorrow onwards. The policies I just mentioned will be reflected in the State Council's guidance on the pilot of the New Rural Insurance, and I think I will introduce them to you in more detail in the near future. Thank you for your question!
Hong Kong Wen Wei Po reporter: I have two questions, the first question, the new health care reform program has been announced for nearly five months, may I ask what new progress has been made in the construction of China's basic medical insurance system now? What are the goals for this year? What is the effect on solving the problems of difficult and expensive medical treatment? The second question is: When exactly will the centralized enterprises' executive compensation management measures be introduced? Can you tell us the details?
Hu Xiaoyi: Since the announcement of the new health care reform program in early March this year, the State Council and the relevant departments have taken a series of measures to implement the program, including expanding the coverage of the basic medical insurance system as the first important task of the new health care reform program in the first half of this year has made new progress. The number of urban workers and residents enrolled in medical insurance has reached more than 336 million, and those enrolled in the New Farmers' Cooperative Program has reached 830 million, adding up to more than 1.16 billion people. The continuous expansion of medical insurance coverage is in itself a powerful support for solving the problem of expensive medical treatment for the masses. This year, we have set the goal that the number of urban workers and residents participating in medical insurance will reach 390 million, and with the addition of more than 800 million people in the New Farmers' Cooperative Program, overall this year more than 1.2 billion Chinese citizens will be able to enjoy basic medical insurance. To achieve this goal, the State Council has decided to fully promote the basic medical insurance system for residents in all cities across the country this year.
Hu Xiaoyi: At the same time, the central government has also arranged 42.9 billion yuan of special subsidies to solve the problem of the participation of retired staff of closed and bankrupt enterprises and other difficult groups in medical insurance. Together with the 8 billion already arranged last year, a **** arranged 50.9 billion funds to solve the historical problems. While expanding coverage, the State Council also decided to raise the level of medical protection, requiring employee medical insurance, urban residents' medical insurance and the New Farmers' Cooperative to raise the maximum payment limit based on the existing reimbursement rate, and the reimbursement rate for hospitalization expenses to be raised by an average of 5 percentage points compared with last year.
Hu Xiaoyi: In addition, next year, the state finance will substantially increase the level of subsidies for urban residents' medical insurance and the new rural cooperative. We believe that through this series of measures, more and more Chinese citizens will enjoy basic medical protection, thus greatly alleviating the problem of difficult and expensive access to medical care.