We will continue to rein in the excessive growth of fixed asset investment.
1) New projects will be strictly scrutinized. Requirements will be instituted to improve and standardize the management of new projects, and we will ensure that the eight specified conditions are strictly met for each new project. Construction projects that violate laws and regulations must be resolutely cancelled or suspended. We will strictly control the use of budgetary funds to finance office buildings for Party and government organs. Nevertheless, we need to judge each case on its own merits, encouraging some and restricting others, and continue to increase support for weak links and priority areas in economic and social development.
2) Expansion of industries that are energy intensive and highly polluting will be strictly controlled. The list of government-approved investment projects will be revised and management will be tightened for projects in industries that are energy intensive, highly polluting and have excess production capacity. The required proportion of upfront capital for certain types of projects will be increased and standards for project approval in terms of technology, environmental impact, energy consumption and scale will be raised. We will prevent the relocation of backward production facilities and highly polluting projects from one region to another. We will encourage enterprises in energy-intensive and highly polluting industries to merge and reorganize so that the superior ones can prosper and the inferior ones be eliminated.
3) We will tighten overall management of investment projects. We will establish a sound mechanism for interdepartmental coordination in the management of new projects. We will continue to strictly review applications for land and credit and rigorously enforce market access standards. Approval to use land for construction purposes will be strictly controlled, particularly land for industrial purposes, to ensure that land is used in an economical and efficient way. The total amount of planned land use in 2008 will be kept at the same level as last year. Oversight and inspection of land use will be tightened. Project approval will be restricted in regions where the problem of illegal land use is widespread or there are serious pollution problems. Inspection of major construction projects, particularly those financed with government investment, will be enhanced, and oversight of the entire process will be tightened. We will do a good job in monitoring, forecasting and releasing information on total investment in society to properly guide non-government investment.
We will work to prevent excessively rapid increase in the overall level of prices.
1) Production and supply of basic necessities, including grain, edible oil, meat and other commodities, whose supply is tight, will be increased to ensure uninterrupted supply of such goods. We will continue effective implementation of the system of provincial governors assuming responsibility for the "rice bag" program and city mayors assuming responsibility for the "vegetable basket" program to increase the government's responsibility for ensuring an adequate supply of basic necessities and stabilizing consumer prices. We will strictly control the use of grain for industrial purposes and export of grain, and resolutely curb reckless expansion of the capacity for downstream corn processing. The reserve system will be improved and import of major consumer goods that are in short supply domestically will be increased appropriately.
2) We will strictly control the prices of commodities and services under government regulation. We must maintain an appropriate pace and intensity for government price regulation. There should be no price increases in the near future for items regulated by the central government such as refined petroleum, natural gas and electric power, for public utilities and services regulated by local governments such as electricity, gas, water, heating and public transport and for admission to tourist sites. We will not allow any rise in all tuition and boarding costs for schools at all levels and of all types and will continue to stabilize charges for medical care. Essential adjustments in the prices for resource products and public services will be tightly controlled to prevent price spirals.
