Address on current economy

Second, we have taken targeted measures. To grow the economy, we need to ensure policy consistency, deepen reform and incentivize the market. We also need to step up structural adjustment and particularly increase domestic demand. We have already taken many policy initiatives to boost consumer demand and we will soon issue 4G licence. Information consumption and e-commerce are growing fast. Online retail sales reached 1.3 trillion yuan in 2012 and they were close to this number in the first three quarters of this year. This helped create a lot of jobs. Many people have gone in for this low-cost online business: they just open online stores but don't have to rent any actual shop space. It is indeed not easy to start a business. But by providing various incentives and developing new business models, we can create more opportunities for business start-ups. At the same time, we are also energetically promoting elderly care and health services, which are inadequate in China. Many products are in oversupply and we have to cut excess production capacity. On the other hand, there is a shortage of services. China's services sector is way behind that of other countries. In terms of services to GDP ratio, we are even ten percentage points lower than countries which have the same level of income like China. As I have learned, for someone who lives in a mega Chinese city to get into a public nursing home , he needs to be on the waiting list at the age of 50 and will have to wait 30 or even 40 years - when he is in his 80s, before he is admitted. This shows how inadequate elderly care services are in our country. China's per capita GDP is now over 6,000 US dollars, and services have great potential for development. We must take steps to boost their growth. In particular, we should remove obstacles to attract private capital. On the other hand, we should not neglect manufacturing. We should focus on environmental and energy saving sectors in keeping with our goal of structural upgrading. We are also working hard to rebuild run-down areas in cities. This program both benefits the people and contributes to growth. We have sped up rebuilding run-down areas in cities in recent years and made major progress. Still, about 40 million people 70% of them are retired employees live in contiguous areas of shanty dwellings in either cities or industrial and mining areas, forest regions and land reclamation areas. Recently, I visited some workers who live in shacks in an industrial and mining area in western China. I asked a retired worker, "When did you come here?" He said he went there in the 1950s to help develop China's interior. At that time, work took precedence over living conditions and he lived in such a shack. He has been living there ever since and spent the best part of his life there. Now he is old and has retired, but he still lives in the shack. He told me that for fear of gas poisoning, he does not keep the coal stove hot. To keep warm in winter for the whole night, in addition to covering himself with a cotton-padded quilt, he has to wear cotton-padded clothes. And he has to share a public toilet with several hundred people. This old man said to me that his only wish is to move into a flat before he dies. So we must speed up the rebuilding of run-down areas. The purpose of carrying out structural adjustment is also narrowing the gap between Eastern region on the one hand and Central and Western regions on the other, between urban and rural areas, and breaking down barriers between permanent residents and mobile population within cities.