2015年CRI State Council Releases Fresh Measures to Boost Consumption

 

At Wednesday's regular government meeting, Chinese Premier¹ Li Keqiang called for more reforms and innovation to boost domestic consumption.

As part of a raft of policies, the Chinese cabinet has promised to speed up reforms on the household registration² system, or known as "Hukou".

By helping³ people relocate to cities, it's hoped the reform will in turn boost home sales and consumption of home appliances.

Yao Jingyuan, researcher at the Counselors’ Office of the State Council, says restrictions⁴ in the Hukou system are indeed a barrier the domestic consumption.

"Currently, migrant workers living in cities could not share the public goods and services with their urban counterparts. This is an obvious problem we face when pushing forward urbanization. We need to ensure that migrants to have the same medical care and pension fund system. Also, their children ought to enjoy compulsory⁵ education like urban kids. As such, this will not only improve people's livelihood⁶, but to offer large-scale potential consumption."

Under existing rules in China, if you live outside the area of your registration, or Hukou, is located, you're required to obtain a temporary residency permit.

Last month, the State Council took the step of eliminating temporary residency permits, potentially giving people more access to social benefits.

At the same time, the Chinese government vowed⁷ to improve the country's business and consumption environment.

This requires the authorities to tighten⁸ supervision⁹, better protect intellectual property rights and crack down on counterfeits¹⁰.

Zhao Ping, a campaigner for consumer rights, listed the key challenge in China's private consumption.

"Chinese consumers are usually in a situation of asymmetric¹¹ information. As such, they tend to be overly cautious while shopping. To tackle the problem, we need to set up a sound credit information sharing system. This could allow consumers to be well informed and thus encourage them to purchase more."

In addition, the government will encourage imports of consumer goods, open more duty-free shops and improve tax refund¹² policies for foreign tourists.

Yao Jingyuan explains why Chinese shoppers have been slow to spend overseas.

"First, the price of foreign products is always quite high in China. Secondly¹³, we failed to identify marketable products to satisfy consumers' real demands. Therefore, it is significant for authorities to expand imports of goods that are warmly welcomed by Chinese consumers."

The newly-released measures are seen as part of China's ongoing¹⁴ economic transition to help foster a consumption-driven economy.

In the first three quarters of this year, the Chinese economy expanded 6.9 percent year on year.

This is the lowest rate of expansion since the second quarter of 2009.

For CRI, I am Wang Mengzhen.

1 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

2 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 compulsory   

n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的

参考例句：

• Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗？
• Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。

6 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

7 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

8 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

9 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

10 counterfeits   

v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Objects and people looked like counterfeits of themselves. 各种人和事好象都给自己披上了伪装。 来自辞典例句
• We have seen many counterfeits, but we are born believers in great men. 我们见过许多骗子，但是我们天生信赖伟人。 来自辞典例句

11 asymmetric   

a.不对称的

参考例句：

• Most people's faces are asymmetric. 大多数人的脸不对称。
• We have made no reference to asymmetric carbon atoms. 我们未曾涉及不对称碳原子。

12 refund   

v.退还，偿还；n.归还，偿还额，退款

参考例句：

• They demand a refund on unsatisfactory goods.他们对不满意的货品要求退款。
• We'll refund your money if you aren't satisfied.你若不满意，我们愿意退款给你。

13 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

14 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。