A wide range of accomplishments, guided by the Report on the Government Work, were attained in 2017, with stress on economic development, Economic Daily reported on Feb 28.

Better-than expected micro economy

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China’s GDP was 82.71 trillion yuan (about $12.8 trillion), up 6.9 percent year-on-year at comparable prices, higher than the target of around 6.5 percent.

Meanwhile, China’s economy also witnessed continuous structural optimization and quality improvements, propelled by thriving new drivers.

The final consumption expenditure served as the major engine of economic growth, with a 58.8 percent contribution rate.

In addition, emerging industries have been persistently picking up momentum, highlighting strategic industries and high-tech industries.

Moderate consumer price hike

As the NBS data showed, the National Consumer Price Index saw a 1.6-percent rise in 2017, edging back by 0.4 percentage points compared to 2016. This mainly resulted from falling food prices.

Nevertheless, prices for other types of merchandise saw a 2.3-percent increase, 0.9 percentage points higher than in 2016. Service prices alone grew by 3 percent, correlating with upgrades in consumption structure and regulated price mechanism through strengthened price reforms.

Growing employment

A total of 13.51 million jobs were created in 2017, which means 370,000 more people got employed. The employment rate of college graduates remained commendable, and more laid-off workers and vulnerable groups got recruited.

Continuing expansion of the gross volume of the economy, optimization of the economic structure, and the booming tertiary industry all led to the growth in employment.

Strengthened poverty alleviation

According to the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, the poverty-stricken population decreased by over 10 million, surpassing the yearly target.

Emerging business modes thrived in poverty-relief undertakings, in which e-business and medical services made considerable contributions. Additionally, funds earmarked for poverty alleviation embraced an enormous increase.

Effective cost-cutting policies

The lump sum amount of cuts in fees and taxes exceeded 1 trillion yuan, greatly underpinning supply-side structural reform and high-quality economic development.

The all-around implementation of the value-added tax reform contributed to the development of micro and small enterprises with meager profits, technology-based small and medium enterprises, and start-ups, with tax cuts totaling 918.6 billion yuan.

In addition, an assortment of administrative fees were either abolished or reduced, and seven charging standards were lowered.

Substantial investments in transportation

Fixed asset investments in the railroad industry totaled 801 billion yuan, and the figure for the highway and waterway industries was 2.27 trillion yuan. Meanwhile, 285,000 kilometers in highways were added in rural areas. All this went beyond the target set by the government work report for 2017.