Government must tighten belt for people to lead better lives

The Government Work Report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang to the ongoing session of the National People's Congress, the top legislature, said that the government must "tighten its belt" to save more money for people's livelihoods.

Actually, even the 2020 government work report said that governments at all levels can be spendthrift but the central government must take the lead to cut spending, reducing non-urgent and non-rigid expenditures by over 50 percent. The 2021 government work report said that governments at all levels must save money for the people and ensure that spending on people's basic livelihoods increases.

It has become normal for Party and government organs to strictly control public spending, which has seen negative growth for two years in a row. Central government departments have reduced their spending on overseas visits, official vehicles and official hospitality from 8.18 billion yuan ($1.29 billion) in 2019 to 5.19 billion yuan in 2021－down 36 percent.

All 80 central government organs and 64,000 Party and government organs at and above the county level are conservation-oriented, setting a good example for society to uphold the virtues of sustainability and frugality.

Party and government organs have taken the lead in leading a frugal life, but they have to allocate more funds to programs that improve people's lives. This is precisely why the authorities want to use the country's limited resources to maximize the social and livelihood benefits. That the authorities use cuts in spending on official overseas visits, official vehicles and official hospitality in exchange for improving people's sense of well-being demonstrates their firm resolve to make people share the fruits of the country's development.

Cutting down on expenses this way will leave more funds to protect people's livelihoods. Undertaking such austerity measures so that people can lead a better life is both an economic and political decision for the government.

Governments at various levels must strictly prohibit extravagance and waste, prohibit illegal construction of new buildings and public image projects, severely punish those who violate financial discipline and wanton squandering of public funds, and ensure that precious funds are used in critical areas of development and the urgent needs of the people.

The country must work to build a conservation-minded, law-based government, and modernize its governance system so that the people can live an even better life.