BEIJING Your Beijing Bible • Insightful and interactive – real voices from the capital’s expat community • Issues, life and style • Culture, eating, nightlife and more Metro Beijing appears in the English edition of the Global Times here in Beijing, Monday to Friday. Nation Depth of Field Life Business Parking Women Hats, shiny Experts discuss pedals speaking leather & government 6 up 12-13 fur 18 work report B1 www.globaltimes.com.cn VOLUME 8 • NO. 2233 • MONDAY MARCH 6, 2017 PRICE 2 YUAN Nation to spend more on rural healthcare By Yang Sheng China spent 1.32 trillion yuan ($191 billion) in 2016 on medi- cal services, four times the expenditure before reforms to the medical system were in- troduced in 2008. But experts and lawmakers from undevel- oped rural areas have noted the shortage of medical talent still hampers the promotion of the reform. China will increase an- nual government subsidies for health insurance for rural and urban residents from 380 yuan per person to 450 yuan, Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday 2 Chinese President Xi Jinping (central) and other State leaders Li Keqiang (third from right), Yu Zhengsheng (second from left), when delivering China Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli attend the opening session of the National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Sunday. Photo: Xinhua Global contribution China’s GDP growth (%) 7.7 2013 7.4 2014 Nation contributed 30.5% to global growth from 2011-15 6.9 6.7 2015 2016 6.5 2017 China lowers growth target Yearly contribution to world GDP growth in 2011-15 Li Keqiang said China 6.7 percent. The previ- By Chen Qingqing and Chen Heying TWO S 30.5 % is enjoying many good SESSION ous low was a 6 percent China has lowered its GDP growth target conditions for sustained 2017 target in 1992, accord- slightly to around 6.5 percent for 2017, com- economic development, ing to the Xinhua News pared with a range of 6.5-7 percent last year, as part of a report at the opening meeting Agency. a government work report said Sunday. of the annual session of China’s top legisla- Although the nation’s GDP 2 Against the backdrop of sluggish world ture, the National People’s Congress. growth target was set around China See also economic growth, backsliding on globaliza- This closely-watched target is a 25-year 6.5 percent in 2017, it will con- Source: The National Bureau of Statistics tion and growing protectionism, Premier low, down from last year’s real growth of tinue to be the fundamental Pages 14, B1 Graphics: GT Inside Nation: Air quality World: Trump urges World: Thousands Editorial: India Asian Review: Forum: Report Business: CPPCC improved in more probe of wiretaps 7 flee northern Syria using Dalai Lama Vicious cycle on to boost cyber members applaud cities: MEP 4 fighting8 card risks worsening Korean Peninsula development 16 government efforts bilateral ties 14 must end 15 B2 Address: The Global Times English Edition, 2 Jintai Xilu, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100026 • News Dept: (8610) 65367574 [email protected] • Ads Dept: (8610) 65369595 [email protected] • Subscription Dept: (8610) 65369602 [email protected] Marketing Dept: (8610) 65367665 [email protected] 地址：北京市朝阳区金台西路2号环球时报社英文版 ● 邮政编码：100026 ● 国内统一刊号：CN11-0272 ● 国际标准刊号：ISSN 2095-2678 ● 邮发代号：1-181 2 Monday March 6, 2017 TOPNEWS China to launch major Musical salute disease insurance plan Nation, from Page 1 the government work report at the National Peo- ple’s Congress. According to data from the Ministry of Fi- nance, the standard of basic health insurance has increased sharply in the past few years. In 2010, the subsidy was only 120 yuan, the People’s Daily reported on Sunday. As China has built a nationwide healthcare network covering more than 1.3 billion people, total expenditures for this network reached about 6 trillion yuan since 2011, with an average an- nual growth of 17 percent. In 2016 alone, input to medical services was 1.32 trillion yuan, 4.1 times higher than the input eight years ago. Stressing governmental input, Li vowed to implement the major disease insurance scheme for all citizens this year. “The increased standard of 450 yuan is a bot- tom line for the central government to pay for health insurance for rural and undeveloped ar- eas, while in cities like Beijing and Shanghai, the A member of a Chinese military band rehearses before the opening session of the annual National People’s standard is much higher,” Zhou Zijun, a public Congress at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, on Sunday. China’s top leadership as well as thousands of health expert at Peking University, told the Global representatives from around the country are gathered at the Chinese capital for the annual legislature meetings, or Times on Sunday. two sessions. Photo: AP “Apart from the central government, local governments will also contribute to the health in- surance, so the real subsidies that people can get from health insurance are more than 450 yuan on average,” Zhou said. China closing gap with US, Many urban residents in China with perma- nent jobs get health insurance through their companies paid for by contributions from their lags behind in per capita GDP salary and from their employer. However, experts pointed out that hefty finan- cial input is far from enough. The premier said in the government report China, from Page 1 India is expected to achieve a 7.2 gap with the US, but not in terms of that “We will launch nationwide trials to establish percent growth in 2017, down 0.6 per capita GDP, and the latter reflects partnerships of different forms between medical driver of global growth, according to percentage points from 2016, ac- the quality of its economic growth,” institutions operating at different levels.” an expert. “If China sees unstable cording to the International Mon- he said. “We will extend trials to use a tiered diagno- growth, the world economic outlook etary Fund (IMF). “Despite its faster In 2016, China’s annual per capita sis and treatment model and a contracted family will be dim,” Mei Xinyu, an associ- growth, India’s GDP only accounts GDP was 53,980 yuan ($7,820), up doctor service system to cover over 85 percent of ate research fellow at the Ministry of for 20 percent of China’s GDP, and 6.1 percent compared to the previous prefectural-level cities in China,” he added. Commerce, told the Global Times on the gap will remain,” Mei noted. year, according to the NBS. The US Sunday. The IMF estimated in its October was ranked the eighth-largest nation Shortage of top doctors China has contributed a yearly av- 2016 edition of the world economic in terms of GDP per capita in 2016 “I hope the government can also spend more erage of 30.5 percent to global GDP outlook report that India’s GDP for at $57,239.79, according to data site on the cultivation of medical workers, which is growth during the 12th Five-Year Plan 2016 would be 122.15 trillion Indian statista.com. Its figure was nearly 8 also my proposal this year,” Wu Yongchun, a period (2011-15), which was the high- rupees ($1.9 trillion), Indian news site times bigger than that of China. deputy to the National People’s Congress, told the est in the world, Mei noted. thehindu.com reported in December More efforts should be done to Global Times on Sunday. China’s 6.7 percent economic 2016. In comparison, China’s GDP increase per capita GDP in the com- The lawmaker, from South China’s Guangxi growth in 2016 outpaced most other was 74.4 trillion yuan ($10.8 trillion) ing years by pushing forward the Zhuang Autonomous Region, said the shortage economies and accounted for more in 2016, according to the country’s economic restructuring and reforms, of talented medical staff is a long-standing prob- than 30 percent of global growth, ac- National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Zhuang noted. lem, especially in undeveloped rural areas like his cording to the government work re- “Still, we should attach impor- “Also, more work in upgrading hometown. “Talented people with medical skills port. tance to the rapid growth of India, it technologies and in improving the are reluctant to work in undeveloped areas for a Echoing Mei, Zhuang Jian, an could mean both business opportuni- quality of the labor force will help long time, so I hope the government can invest Asian Development Bank macro- ties and rising competition for Chi- raise the quality of China’s economic more on training local people to fill the gap.” economist, told the Global Times on nese companies,” Mei noted. growth,” he said. But Zhou stressed that human resources will Sunday that if the nation keeps its There is also a huge gap between surely flow to developed areas because of more momentum above 6 percent, its con- China and the US in terms of per cap- Page Editor: opportunities and incomes, so administrative tribution to global growth will sur- ita GDP, Zhuang added. “In overall [email protected] means cannot fundamentally solve this problem. pass that made by the US. GDP numbers, China is closing the Diplomats hail China’s continuing support for globalization, multilateral trade system By Bai Tiantian system and will hasten the process with the so far. “I have attended the two sessions he finds this year’s government report very signing of free trade agreements with Aus- many times.