Peking University, Mar. 17, 2016: During the deliberation of the Thirteenth “Five-Year” Plan (Draft), Li Yining, member of the national committee of the CPPCC and a prominent economist, was interviewed by reporters.
For over a decade, poverty alleviation has been Li’s main focus. 86 years old as he is, Li still toils for the alleviation of poverty in China. When being interviewed, he answered from the perspectives of establishing characteristic industries, relocating the poor and educational poverty alleviation.
Li Yining took Bijie, a prefecture-level city in Guizhou Province, as an example to show the importance of educational poverty alleviation. “ A local comprehensive college was re-organized into a technical college that promotes vocational education.” Li said, “Before the re-organization, students found it hard to find a job; now by cooperating with companies, the college not only provides many talented employees, but also solves the problem of employment. This way the youth can be lifted out of poverty.” Another method was establishing a specialized zone of well-directed education, “for instance, if a county lacks nurse,” said Li, the students to be trained as nurses.
In the afternoon of March 6, a press conference was held for the fourth session of the 12th CPPCC. Li Yining stated that China is still implementing a proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy, but the key point is targeted regulation and pro-cyclical fine-tuning. Meanwhile, there is no drastic reduction in investment or in consumption -- many investment projects in the fields of high-speed rails, transportation facilities, harbors, hydropower stations and internet are going to be started.
Li Yining pointed out that the private sector of economy is growing quickly. He suggested that we should visit Zhong guancun, where undergraduates, graduates, post-doctorates, scientific researchers and private entrepreneurs are all talking about creativity, business startups and innovation. “This is the future of China. We can see an era with an exuberance of innovation around the corner.” According to Li, we should have faith in China’s economy.
When it comes to structural reform of the supply side, Li stated that the reform is facing two major difficulties: First, the decrease of employment rate caused by shutting up companies. “The central policy for now is that the government will support these workers. We would rather feed workers than feed money-losing firms. Once the workers are settled down, they can be trained and can find new jobs.” Another barrier is how to shore up our weak spots, which requires innovation and structural changes. “There are some difficulties, but we have confidence to overcome them,” said Li.
Written by: Xu Penghang
Edited by: Zhang Jiang
Source: PKU News (Chinese)
