Science & technological innovation

-- The central government will allocate 146.1 billion yuan to the science and technology sector, up 25.6 percent from last year.

Food safety

-- The government will implement strict market access rules and product traceability and recall systems so that the people buy food and drugs with confidence and consume them with satisfaction.

Social safety net

-- The central government plans to spend 293 billion yuan on the social safety net, up 17.6 percent or 43.9 billion yuan over the estimated figure for last year. Local governments will also increase funding in this area.

Employment

-- The government will implement a more proactive employment policy, and the central government will allocate 42 billion yuan for this purpose.

Education

-- The government will formulate the Outline of the National Medium- and Long-Term Program for Education Reform and Development to make comprehensive arrangements for education reform and development in China through 2020.

Health care reform

-- Governments at all levels will allocate an additional 850 billion yuan in the next three years, including 331.8 billion yuan from the central government, to ensure smooth progress in the reform of the medical and health care system.

National defense

-- The government will improve defense-related research, the weapons and equipment production system, the military personnel training system, and the army's logistics support system that integrate civilian with military purposes and combine military efforts with civilian support.

Taiwan issue

-- The mainland will remain committed to the goal of peaceful development of cross-Straits relations, and work actively to build a framework for and strive to achieve new progress in the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations.

-- The mainland will continue to comprehensively strengthen cross-Straits economic cooperation to jointly respond to the global financial crisis.

-- The mainland will accelerate normalization of cross-Straits economic relations and facilitate the signing of a comprehensive agreement on economic cooperation, and gradually establish economic cooperation mechanisms tailored to both sides of the Straits.

-- The mainland will work on the basis of the one-China principle to enhance mutual political trust between the two sides.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2009)