Reporters raise hands at the State Council’s weekly press briefing held on Feb 13, 2015.[Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/China Daily]

Host Hu Kaihong:

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to the policy briefing. We have four vice-ministers here today to brief you about the key policies of the government. The briefing will be divided into two parts. First, we will invite Zhai Qing, Vice-Minister of Environmental Protection and Qi Ji, Vice-Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development to talk respectively about issues on pollution management and housing for low income residents. The second section will focus on the latest Executive Meeting of the State Council and the speakers will be Hu Zucai, vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission and Dou Yupei, vice-minister of Civil Affairs. Questions are welcomed. First, I would like to give the floor to Minister Zhai.

Zhai Qing:

Good morning, friends from the press. I’ve provided you with the press release on major progress on environmental protection in 2014 and you are welcomed to use them as reference. Thank you for your support.

Hu Kaihong:

Now to minister Qi.

Qi Ji:

Friends of the media, I would like to brief you on the housing projects for low-income urban residents and dilapidated house renovation in rural areas during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015).

Resolving the housing problems of low-income families plays a key role as we secure and improve people’s lives. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council have always attached great importance to this task. Under the Outline of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, 36 million units (households) of low-income housing and upgraded shanty housing are due to be built over the period. Through concerted efforts, the two projects have progressed smoothly. From 2011 to 2014, or the first four years of the 12th Five-Year Plan, China started to build more than 32 million units, and more than 20 million of these have essentially been completed.

Qi Ji:

In the process, relevant departments, in accordance with State Council arrangements, have shouldered their responsibilities, worked with one another, advanced various tasks and achieved remarkable results. Over the past four years the central government and its budget have allocated subsidies of up to 710 billion yuan for housing projects for low-income residents and issued enterprise bonds worth more than 700 billion exclusively for these projects.

The People’s Bank of China and China Banking Regulatory Commission have required banks to issue loans for the housing projects for low-income residents. Loans worth 1.6 trillion yuan have been granted over the past few years. Here I would like to single out China Development Bank, which has issued loans of up to 880 billion yuan.

At the same time, it will escape no one’s notice that lot of private and social capital has been injected into these projects. Businesses and residents have invested in the projects, especially in upgrading shanty houses, ensuring the scheme is fully covered in terms of investment.

We have also said land for housing projects for low-income people should be guaranteed. Departments overseeing land at various levels have offered strong support, aside from financial support and tax incentives. These are the main achievements of central government ministries involved in the housing projects.