第一部分

“三农”问题 Issues of agriculture, farmer and rural area

A short term for the issues related with agriculture, farmer and rural area. Formally raised by researchers on rural issues in the late 1980s, the issues were regarded as of high importance for the country’s economic and social development.

After fixing numerous policies to nurture agriculture, improve the life of farmers and speed the development of rural areas, the central government pointed out during the 2004 Central Economic Work Conference that these issues were “the most important of all the important works for the Party”. And more policies and measures are put in place in this regard.

两限房 House of “Two Limits”

Houses with lower prices and limited areas specially for families with low or middle income. In May 2006, the State Council required local governments to boost the supply of houses at low and middle prices to ensure the families of modest income could afford them. Specific guidelines about the qualifications and the details of the property transfer are set by local governments.

Houses of “two limits” are usually sold at a price 30 percent lower than the market price. In Beijing, families with an annul income under 88,000 yuan and a per capita dwelling space under 15 square meters are eligible to apply for houses of “two limits”.

农村税费改革 Rural Tax and Fee Reform

A reform in rural areas to ease the financial burden on farmers.

In 2000, a pilot program was started in Anhui province under which the agricultural tax rate was cut, other agriculture-related taxes and fees were either written off or merged. The central government subsidized local governments through transfer payments to balance their reduced revenue.

The pilot program was soon extended to other regions and the agricultural tax was totally done away with in 2006 throughout the country, marking the completion of this reform. Now farmers do not pay any tax except those growing tobacco.

“三沿”地区开放 Opening-up of seashore, river shore and border areas

A policy to open the areas along the coast, along the major inland rivers and those on the country’s borderline to foreign investors and stimulate the economic development with their geographic advantages. Since China launched the opening-up policy in the late 1970s, it chose four cities in southeast coastal areas and established special economic zones as a pilot program. In 1984, 14 port cities along the coastline were opened to foreign investors and businesses. The Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta were opened up in 1985. And four cities on the country’s northern borderline followed suit in 1990.

Based on the experiences from the special economic zones, this policy is an important step in spreading the opening-up strategy across the country.

第二部分

农村土地承包制 Rural Land Contract System

A fundamental economic system in rural areas guaranteeing farmers’ rights to land owned by the collectives and the State by signing long-term contracts.

Since the household responsibility system became an accepted form of agricultural land tenure in the early 1980s, the State formally approved farmers’ rights to rural land in 1986 by stipulating all farmers have the right to undertake rural land contracts based up on families in the General Principles of the Civil Law. In 2002, a specific law governing rural land contract granted farmers inheritance rights to their land and the ability to exchange land with one another, to sub-rent, to pool land and to mortgage it for credit. The land contract has an extendable term of at least 30 years and cannot be suspended without bilateral agreements.

抓大放小 Restructuring Major Enterprises and Relaxing Control over Small Ones

A strategy for reforming the State-owned enterprises stressing that the major enterprises in key sectors should be supported to gain further development while the smaller ones should compete in the market.

Initiated in the mid-1990s when the country tried to step up the efficiency of State-owned enterprises as a whole, the strategy was formally accepted as a principle for reforming the public-owned economy in 1997. Big public enterprises were encouraged to develop into groups or establish partnership with each other. Smaller public enterprises were reformed flexibly through market-oriented means, like becoming shareholding businesses, acquisition and merger and contracting managing rights to individuals.

经济适用房 Economical Housing

Housing sold at low prices to low-income earners to get them affordable shelters. Starting in 1998, the central government decided to offer favorable policies to housing developers so that they could build apartments of specified sizes and prices. Families with living floor space or income under given standards could apply for purchasing the apartments at prices much lower than the market prices. Eligibility standards for purchasing economical housing are set by provincial authorities according to local situations. Economical housing is subject to special clauses for trading in market, which discourage profiting from the property. It is an integrated part of the State efforts to shelter groups with limited financial resources.

三资企业 Foreign-funded enterprises

A term for three kinds of foreign-invested enterprises or ventures in China, which include Sino-foreign joint ventures, cooperative businesses, and exclusively foreign-owned enterprises. As an economic entity responsible for their own profits and losses, these enterprises are set up within China after being approved by relevant State departments and are run in accordance with China’s laws. Since reform and opening-up in 1978, these enterprises have played an important role in helping the country absorb foreign investment, introduce foreign advanced technologies and management know-how, as well as expand export.

铁饭碗 Iron Rice Bowl

A guaranteed job many Chinese people dreamed of getting during the era of the planned economy. People didn’t need to worry about their future once they gained a post usually in government departments and State or collectively run factories. But since the reform and opening-up was adopted in 1978 and the new labor system and the market economy came into being, such a stable employment model, which hindered people’s creativity to a large extent, has gradually been shattered. The establishment of the new and competitive employment model has contributed a lot to the country’s productivity and its rapid development.

菜篮子工程Non-Staple Food Project

In 1988, the Ministry of Agriculture started this project against a background that the country could not produce enough non-grain food with rich diversity.

Under the project, agricultural bases were established to boost production and supply, and special markets for agricultural produce were set up. By the mid 1990s, food diversity was improved and a reserve network was established around the country. The project then shifted its focus on food safety and branding.

西部大开发Western Development

A drive launched by the central government in 2000 to promote social and economic progress in the central and western parts of the country, which are relatively less developed than the rest of the country.

By injecting financial aid and offering favorable policies, the State wants to speed up infrastructure construction, industrialization and poverty eradication in these areas. Officials, technicians and other qualified talents have been dispatched from the eastern regions to lend a hand.

The campaign covers nearly 400 million people living in Chongqing Municipality, Sichuan Province, Guizhou Province, Yunnan Province, the Tibet Autonomous Region, Shaanxi Province, Gansu Province, Qinghai Province, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

第三部分

又好又快发展Sound and Fast Development

A goal set for China’s economic progress that underscores both quality and speed. Officials attending the Central Economic Work Conference in 2005 made “fast and sound” development one of the country’s goals. It was revised to “sound and fast” development at the following year’s conference. In his report to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2007, General Secretary Hu Jintao said the economy must advance in a comprehensive, balanced and sustainable manner by putting “sound” before “fast”. The change demonstrates the central government’s determination to bring about a shift in the country’s economic growth mode.

小康社会 A moderately prosperous society

A blueprint for the development of the society featuring comprehensive improvement in the economy, democracy, science and technology, social culture, and people’s lives.

In the 1980s, late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping set a target for the country to realize “a moderately prosperous society” by 2000, which was mostly about growth in the economic indicators.

Jiang Zemin, the former president, officially widened the concept to cover more social aspects in his report to the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2002. Besides quadrupling the country’s GDP of 2000 by 2020, other targets included implementing the rule of law, fostering market economy, ensuring universal coverage of social security, and helping most people live a comfortable life.

President Hu Jintao in his report to the 17th CPC National Congress added new elements to the blueprint by stressing transformation of the economic development pattern, and sustainability of growth.

循环经济Circular Economy

A model for economic growth which aims at environmental protection

Under this model, resources are used with higher efficiency and reused and recycled when possible, so that pollution is minimized and waste is reduced as much as possible. It also involves the transformation of industrial organization and allocation, urban infrastructure, environmental protection, technological paradigms, and social welfare distribution.

An important part in China’s effort toward sustainable development, circular economy was officially raised as a target for China’s future growth in 2004.

The State Council issued a file about promoting it in July 2005, making it a key guideline in the 11th Five-Year Plan and to achieve the specific goals in energy conservation and pollution reduction before 2020.

社会主义新农村 Socialist New Countryside

To address the increasingly conspicuous imbalance in the country’s economic landscape, the fourth generation leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has gone to great lengths to correct the urban-rural divide. “Socialist New Countryside” is to date the most comprehensive solution it has prescribed.

The concept first appeared in early 2005 in a major policy paper on rural development. The CPC-proposed a blueprint for the country’s 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10)www.rr365.com. It portrays the “new countryside” as featuring “advanced production, a well-to-do life, civilized folkways, a neat look, and democratic management”. As part of the campaign, the central authorities are reorienting public finance to support rural development programs.

第四部分

新型工业化道路 New Path of Industrialization

A strategy for industrialization emphasizing reliance on technological progress, improved efficiency in resource and energy utilization, and sustainable economic growth.

First raised by Jiang Zemin, former president, in his report to the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2002, the blueprint aims at a balance between industrial development and environmental protection, with the focus on promoting industrial advancement through developing science and technology and giving full play to China’s comparative advantage in labor resources.

Endorsed in the report of Hu Jintao to the 17th National Congress of CPC in 2007, this strategy has become a fundamental guideline for the country’s economic progress.

南水北调工程 South-to-North Water Diversion Project

A major project to channel water from the Yangtze River in the southern part of the country to the north through three canals.

The project, considered by the authorities since the 1950s, was formally launched in 2002. Three 1,300-km canals will be constructed in the western, central and eastern parts of China so that water from the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River will be brought to the north, where water supply is not adequate.

With an estimated investment of 486 billion yuan, the three canals will be capable of transferring 44.8 billion cu m of water by 2050.

分税制 Tax Sharing System

A policy arrangement between the central government and local governments on collecting and spending of different taxes.

Popular in many market economies, the system divides all tax items into State taxes, local taxes and several shared taxes. The central and local governments collect taxes and manage the public affairs with the money as agreed. Transfer payments from the central government to localities are also part of the system to narrow regional differences.

China started a reform in 1994 to introduce this system and established State taxation administrations as well as local taxation administrations to implement the system.

三来一补企业 Enterprises of Three Import and Compensation Trade

A shorthand for enterprises that process imported raw materials, manufacture products according to imported samples, assemble imported parts and those that repay loans for imported equipments and technologies with products. Emerging in the coastal area in the late 1980s, all these enterprises export their products abroad. By taking the processing fee, they become the major force in the processing trade, which forms a big proportion in the country’s total trade volume. They played a key role in fostering the development of China’s trade.

利改税 Tax for Profits

A reform measure requiring State-owned enterprises (SOEs) to pay taxes instead of submitting their profits to the administration.

The State Council introduced this reform in 1983 by levying a 55 percent income tax on medium and large SOEs rather than taking their profits. Other measures soon followed, creating a complete tax scheme to encourage competition.

This was one of the earliest steps taken to reform SOEs and establish a national tax system, showing that a mature market might be an effective way to improve industrial efficiency.

第五部分

兴边富民行动 Program to Revitalize Border Areas and Enrich Residents’ Lives

A State campaign to boost social and economic development of regions along the land borderline. In 1998, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission started the program to improve the lives of the ethnic people who comprise 48 percent of the 21 million residents in 135 counties along the borderline. Favorable policies and direct financial investment were granted to improve the infrastructure and public facilities, develop education, promote literacy, boost trade and nurture industries. By 2005, the government spent at least 15 billion yuan in the border areas through the program.

绿色信贷 Green Credit

A policy to encourage the businesses to observe the rules and regulations about environmental protection with the leverage of bank credits. Initiated by the former State Environmental Protection Administration, currently the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and China Banking Regulatory Commission in July, 2007, the policy requires the commercial banks, when reviewing the application for bank credits, to consider whether the applying businesses have followed the environmental rules. The violators have less chance to get the approval, while the green businesses would get favorable treatment in this regard. The policy marks a start for the central government to step up the country’s environmental protection through market-oriented means.

廉租房 Low-rent Housing

State-owned houses are rented out at modest prices to low-income families who do not have proper housing in the cities.

In 1998, the central government required all cities to offer low-rent housing to families with the lowest income before the end of 2006 and the deadline was later changed to the end of 2007.

In each city, the standards for a family’s per capita living floor space and minimum income are set by the local governments. Families whose living space and income are both below the standards are given low-rent houses. If the governments do not have enough houses, they offer financial subsidy to these families. The rent is set at about 5 percent of the family’s income.

家庭联产承包责任制 Household Contract Responsibility System

The system allows farming households to manage agricultural production on their own initiatives while the farmland remains in the ownership of the rural collective. Started in Xiaogang village in Anhui province in the late 1970s, the system enables farmers to use land through long-term contracts and keep the produce after paying taxes. It raised productivity and increased agricultural output, both of which were preconditions for nurturing the economic takeoff, and comprehensive industrialization and urbanization. The start of this system is widely accepted as a milestone in the economic opening up.

假日经济 Holiday Economy

A popular term to describe the huge public spending during holidays which contributes significantly to economic growth and structural upgrade.

In 1999, the State Council decided to extend the public holidays for May Day, National Day and Spring Festival to one week. The holidays became good opportunities for people to travel, shop and generally enjoy themselves.

Since then, the massive consumption has boosted tourism, retail, transportation, cinemas, exhibitions, sports and other related industries, thereby benefiting the people and the country.

第六部分

财产性收入 Property Income

Earnings from bank deposits, securities, houses and other personal or family properties.

In his report to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2007, General Secretary Hu Jintao stressed, for the first time, that conditions should be created to enable citizens to earn income from their property. Hu’s remarks sent the message that China would advance the development of its capital market, enabling investors to share the economic boom.

Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that per capita property income in China averaged 240 yuan in 2006, or about 2 percent of people’s total income, while 70 percent of people’s average income came from salaries and 28 percent from pensions, subsidies and other benefits.

“三步走”战略 Three-Step Development Strategy

A plan for boosting the economy by hitting three major targets over three different time spans.

Originally floated by the central government in 1987, the first step was to double the GDP of 1980 by 1990 and to ensure that most of the population had enough food and clothing. The second step was to double the annual GDP of 1990 by 2000 and ensure that most people were living prosperous lives. The third step is to quadruple the GDP of 2000 by 2020, ensure that most people are living well-off lives and have a fully operational market economy in China.

The first two steps have been taken . At the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in December 2007, the third step was revised to quadrupling the per capita GDP of 2000 by 2020.

金税工程 Golden Tax Project

The establishment of a uniform computer network across the country through which taxation authorities at all levels can better serve taxpayers.

Started in 1994, the project aims to improve the transparency and efficiency of tax collection and supervision. By turning invoices, one of the most important taxation documents, into electronic data, it facilitates both taxpayers and taxation authorities.

The project’s first two stages were completed in 2000 and 2003 respectively. The third stage, begun last year, will cover almost all matters of taxation.