A State Council executive meeting on Jan 27, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang, decided to boost industrial efficiency with financial measures, to integrate the initiatives of “Made in China 2025” and the “Internet Plus”, to eliminate series of fees for government-controlled funds, as well as to reinforce efforts to protect left-behind children in rural areas.

To improve industrial efficiency the meeting agreed on the following:

First, guide financial institutions to enhance credit support for hi-tech enterprises and major technical equipment projects.

Second, encourage the acquisition and reorganization of traditional industrial capacity through merger and acquisition loans, issuance of preferred shares and convertible bonds.

Third, reduce loans for enterprises that have suffered long-term deficits, lost solvency, or cannot meet the requirements for environmental protection.

Fourth, widen financing channels and encourage direct financing such as expanding equity or bonds.

Fifth, crack down on arbitrary charges for financial services and remove unreasonable charge items.

The meeting also urged enterprises to make a breakthrough in the combination of “Made in China 2025” and the “Internet Plus” as soon as possible to help upgrade China’s manufacturing.

First, speed up building new manufacturing bases such as automatic control and sensing technology, industrial cloud and intelligence, and the industrial Internet, and foster new models, businesses and products.

Second, release 11 guidelines on issues such as smart manufacturing, green manufacturing and quality improvement; build innovation centers and platforms for manufacturing with enterprises, colleges, research institutes.

Third, improve the preferential tax policy of costs deduction, set up special funds for “Made in China 2025”, and launch a series of icon projects.

Fourth, improve the standards to guarantee the supply of high-quality and high-end products for clients and customers.

Fifth, enhance international exchanges and deepen cooperation with foreign manufacturing partners.

The meeting also decided to curb charges to help relieve burdens for enterprises.

First, reduce the standards of charge for new vegetable field development and construction fund and the afforestation fund to zero, merge seven similar government funds such as the support fund for reservoir emigrants, and eliminate illegal funds set up by local governments.

Second, the bar for tax payers’ exemption of education surcharges and water conservancy construction fund will be raised from the previous monthly sales income of less than 30,000 yuan ($4,560) to less than 100,000 yuan.

This policy will help enterprises save around 26 billion yuan per year. The meeting also agreed not to set up new government funds in future and to have the existing ones supervised by the public.

Furthermore, the meeting also called for better care for left-behind children in rural areas.

First, improve the service and care system consisting of families, schools, social organizations and local governments.

Second, establish reporting, intervention and support mechanisms to crack down on crimes targeted at left-behind children.

Third, improve boarding schools.

Fourth, reduce the number of left-behind children through urbanization of rural migrant workers.