Page 17 - REPORT ON THE EXECUTION OF THE CENTRAL AND LOCAL BUDGETS FOR 2022 AND ON THE DRAFT CENTRAL AND LOCAL BUDGETS FOR 2023

disease prevention and control agencies and strengthen training for healthcare
personnel. We worked to make bulk government purchases of medicines and
high-value medical consumables a regular practice and improved the measures for

on-the-spot settlement of out-of-province medical expenses. We implemented
demonstration projects for the reform and high-quality development of public

hospitals.
Improving social security services
We made steady progress in bringing basic old-age insurance funds for

enterprise employees under unified national management and established a
mechanism for sharing spending responsibilities between central and local

governments. Under this policy, about 244 billion yuan was collected last year to
help localities in meeting shortfalls of the year. Basic pension benefits for retirees

were increased by 4%, and minimum basic pension benefits for rural and
non-working urban residents were increased to 98 yuan per person per month. We

established a private pension system and introduced tax reductions for private
pensions. We continued to increase subsidies and living allowances for entitled
groups. We supported construction of government-subsidized rental housing and

continued with the renovation of old residential communities in cities, the
rebuilding of rundown urban areas, and the upgrading of dilapidated rural

housing.
Working to improve the modern public cultural services system

We advanced the integrated development of urban and rural public cultural
services, refined the mechanism for supporting free admission at museums and

memorial halls, and strived to provide better public cultural services. We
promoted the full integration of media and supported the production of fine
artistic works. We worked to strengthen the protection of cultural relics and

ancient books and the preservation of cultural heritage, and supported the
development of high-quality national cultural parks. We supported Beijing’s

successful hosting of the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, at which Chinese
athletes achieved their best ever results at a Winter Olympics.

Strengthening support for workplace safety and emergency and disaster response
To ensure workplace safety, we established an assistance fund for accident

16