The Press Center for the Celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) held a press conference on the improvement of people's livelihood over the past 70 years on Thursday.
With the development of the country, Chinese people have witnessed great improvement in daily lives, including education, job employment, social welfare, health care and housing conditions, according to officials attending the press conference.
Education development benefits every family
Students going home after class. /VCG Photo
"Chinese education has undergone tremendous changes over the past seven decades. The progress we've made benefits every Chinese family," said Chen Baosheng, minister of Education.
Chen further explained that China has established the world's largest education system, with 519,000 schools, 276 million students and 16.7 million teachers.
"In the past 70 years, especially since the reform and opening-up policy, 270 million Chinese people have received higher education and vocational education," Chen added.
According to Chen, financial spending on education has continuously accounted for 4 percent of China's GDP since 2012. The total expenditure for education in 2018 reached 4.6 trillion yuan. "Expenditure for education has become the largest spending of our public finance," he said.
Employment situation and housing condition progressed
College graduates having interviews with potential employers. /VCG Photo
China has managed to maintain a stable employment situation for a long time, according to Zhang Jinan, Minister of Human Resources and Social Security.
According to Zhang, in 1949, the registered number of total employment was 180 million, and that number climbed to 780 million in 2018, while the population in the same period increased 1.6-fold.
"The pattern of urban and rural employment has also been improved. Urban employment increased from 8.5 percent in 1949 to 56 percent in 2018. Employment in the tertiary industry increased from 9.1 percent in 1952 to 46.3 percent in 2018," he added.
In terms of China's social security system, Zhang said that China has put in place a social security system covering both urban and rural residents. China has established the world's largest social safety net, he added.
"In 1951, 2.69 million workers had labor insurance. Now, the pension system covers more than 950 million people," Zhang said.
A residential area under construction. /VCG Photo
Chinese people's housing conditions have also improved over the past 70 years. Around 200 million people's housing difficulties were solved, and China has built the biggest housing security system in the world, according to Wang Menghui, the minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.
Wang affirmed the quickly developed of China's urban and rural construction. As many as 6,819 villages were included in the traditional Chinese Villages Catalog, forming the largest conservation group of agricultural civilization in the world.
Better medical care for the people
Ma Xiaowei, director of the National Health Commission, introduced the improvement of the health conditions of Chinese residents in the past 70 years, as well as the update and implementation of China's progress in developing the medical security system in recent years at Thursday's press conference.
According to Ma, over the past 70 years, the average life expectancy reached 75 years in China. The infant mortality rate dropped from 200 per thousand to 6.1 per thousand, and the maternal mortality has also dropped significantly, with major health indicators better than the average in middle and high-income countries, he added.
"China has a complete emergency response team and system for public health emergencies, and successfully handled SARS, H7N9, and other major outbreaks," he said.
Doctors in the middle of an operation. /VCG Photo
Ma also indicated that China has strengthened cooperation with international organizations to support the fight against Ebola in West Africa, and signed and implemented more than 160 cooperation agreements in the health field with international organizations, countries, and regions concerned.
"Up to now, China has sent 26,000 medical teams to 71 countries and treated 280 million patients," Ma said.
The country has also developed better service for the elderly. According to Huang Shuxian, minister of Civil Affairs, the number of nursing facilities for the elderly reached 173,300 with over 7.3 million berths in total.