A State Council executive meeting on Feb 3, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang, decided to deploy resources and efforts to develop makerspaces to accelerate the cultivation of the new driving force; a new round of upgrading projects for power grids in rural areas will be carried out; more support will be given to destitute people to ensure their basic needs are met. A draft of the national social security fund regulations was passed at the meeting.

According to the meeting, building a new type of entrepreneurship and innovation platform can provide low-cost specialized services for the development of an innovation-driven strategy. It can also increase job vacancies and help eliminate overcapacity. Therefore, pilot innovation platforms at the national level should be set up to promote the development of mass entrepreneurship and innovation bases in various places. Makerspaces with production, study and research can be created with the assistance of leading companies, medium, small and micro-sized enterprises, scientific research institutes, universities and makers, in important fields such as electronic information, advanced equipment manufacturing and modern agriculture.

Second is to enhance policy support. Factories and warehouses that were left unused can be changed into innovation bases and makerspaces, where angel investment and venture capital fund should be introduced. Subsidies are granted for facilities such as offices, water, power and Internet. Special financing services can be tried at selected financial institutions.

Third is to explore tax preferences, and improve the distribution system for the income from innovation efforts. Scientific professionals are encouraged to start their own businesses at the bases and makerspaces. Policy support should be in place for their application for intellectual property rights, production transformation and promotion.

The meeting said the new round of upgrades in the rural power grid will help improve production and living conditions in rural areas, promote industry development and stimulate investment and consumption. The power grid upgrade projects will be carried out along with promoting a new type of urbanization, agricultural modernization, and poverty alleviation and relocation projects. The meeting agreed on the following:

First, speed up upgrades in the rural power grid in western and poverty-stricken areas, especially in extremely poor areas and old revolutionary base areas; make efforts to solve problems such as sub-par voltage levels and lack of connection to electricity; improve generating electricity with new energy.

Second, promote electricity utilization in all pumping wells with a combination of high standard farmland building and agricultural water saving irrigation; intensify efforts to upgrade power grids in key villages to meet the demands of agricultural products processing, e-commerce development and consumption upgrade.

Third, make more efforts to build power grids in rural areas in Tibet and Xinjiang autonomous regions, as well as in Tibetan areas of Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces; promote power grid interconnection and invest more than 700 billion yuan on these projects; expand financing channels and attract more social capital to participate in the rural power grid upgrade in conjunction with electricity system reform.

The meeting said all eligible people in the poor areas will be covered by government’s relief and support.

On the basis of the interim projects for social relief, the meeting specified subjects, procedures, content, and standards of the relief efforts.

It stressed that government should provide basic support for poverty-stricken people, including grain and oil, clothing, and bedding.

In addition, government should provide housing assistance, daily care to disabled people who cannot take care of themselves, and financial support to poor people who are part of the urban and rural residents’ basic medical insurance.

The meeting also required that in line with local economic and social development, local governments should make more efforts in poverty relief, set reasonable relief standards, and implement targeted measures.

Public-Private-Partnership, government-purchased services, charity donations, voluntary services and other measures are encouraged to attract social sector to take part in the efforts.

The meeting also passed the draft of a regulation for national social security fund, which stipulates that the fund is created by the central government’s budget allocation, transfer of State-owned capital, and the income of fund investment.

According to the draft, the fund is used to support social security expenditure during the peak of population aging.

It also makes clear the system of operation, regulation, and risk control management of fund investment and strengthens regulation measures.