Govt policy moves from past week

Military to end business role

The military will put an end to all commercial activities before the end of this year, according to a guideline released on June 11.

Halting commercial activities is a decision of strategic importance made by the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the Central Military Commission and Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said the guideline, jointly issued by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission.

The move is also a significant part of the ongoing reform of national defense and the military, and will help create an enabling environment for the military to stick to its mission and improve its combat capacity.

According to the guideline, the military will put an end to all programs that aim to make profit. Programs that deviate from its main mission or provide services for society will also be halted.

Contracts between the military and civilian entities that do not conclude by year’s end should be terminated by that time through negotiation or legal procedures, it said, adding that compensation will be provided for economic losses.

Different strategies should be adopted to terminate existing programs that are deemed sensitive or sophisticated. Some former military services can be absorbed through military-civilian integration.

The guideline said all properties, land and reception facilities owned by the military and used for commercial purposes, will be administered and allocated by the Central Military Commission. Terminating such services was the shared responsibility of the military as well as central and local authorities.

Dairy products to get boost

China will improve the quality of dairy products to boost the confidence of consumers, according to a guideline unveiled by the State Council on June 11.

The guideline, published by the State Council General Office, said that the country is targeting substantial progress in the supply-side structural reform of the dairy sector by 2020, when the sector will also see a remarkable increase in production capacity.

The number of dairy farms with more than 100 cows will account for more than 65 percent of the total by 2020, according to the guideline.

The guideline also targets an increase in the quality, competitiveness and reputation of domestic baby formula, with the levels of quality and safety expected to increase by a large margin and consumer confidence boosted accordingly.

The sector was hit hard after a 2008 scandal in which a number of farmers and manufacturers were found to have added melamine, a toxic chemical, to unprocessed milk.

To improve the milk source, the government will develop a “golden area” of milk production in north, northeast and northwest China. It calls for developing standardized cattle breeding methods, improving the quality of milk cows through big data and online evaluation platforms, and producing high-quality fodder for cows.

More measures will be introduced to ensure the quality of baby formula, and laws and regulations related to it will be strictly enforced. Illegal actions such as mixing inedible ingredients and overuse of food additives will be stringently punished.

Importing large bags of baby formula to be resold in small packages is strictly prohibited.

Pension system adjustment

The central government will introduce a fund adjustment system for pensions covering employees of enterprises to balance payment burdens on local governments, according to a notice released by the State Council on June 13.

The system will draw a certain portion from provincial pension fund pools and redistribute it later, based on 90 percent of the average salary in each region and the number of people that should be insured, the notice said.

The system, which will be in place from July, will be the first step toward nationwide coordination, which will facilitate a sustainable basic pension scheme, the statement said.

The system will help balance the pension burden of different areas and increase the risk prevention capacity for pension funds.

The goal is to eventually ensure a unified pension policy nationwide, the notice said.