East China’s Jiangsu province has unveiled a reform plan on the division of fiscal responsibility and expenditure responsibility in a bid to ensure stable and continuous investment in healthcare, science, technology, education and transportation.
The reform plan clarifies the financial authority at the provincial, municipal and county levels in the relevant fields, and appropriately shifts the responsibility of expenditures to reduce the financial pressure on the grassroots institutions.
In science and technology, Jiangsu will focus on the forward-looking and basic research that will promote the major economic and social development needs and the improvement of overall independent innovation capabilities, as well as major scientific and technological tasks by listing them under the provincial financial authority with the provincial finance bearing the responsibility for the expenditure.
Financial authority refers to the task and responsibility of the government to use financial funds to provide basic public services.
In the field of education, Jiangsu will formulate provincial basic guarantee standards for compulsory education, student funding, and other education projects with the funding no lower than the national basic standards.
The expenditures on textbooks, homework books, dictionaries, and tuition and miscellaneous fees for students with financial difficulties shall be fully borne by the central and provincial finance.
The provincial finance will coordinate central financial funds to properly grant government subsidies for pre-school education and state grants for municipal universities.
In the field of health care, the province will coordinate central funds to subsidize the comprehensive reform of public hospitals in cities and counties, the national essential medicine procurement system, and capacity-building for primary health care professionals.
In the field of transportation, the provincial government will increase transfer payments to cities and counties, provide certain financial support according to the development goals in different periods and target underdeveloped areas.
