A number of budgets to improve people’s lives for next year have been announced in a joint notice by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, accounting for more than 124 billion yuan ($18.8 billion).

About 9.28 billion yuan will be allocated to tackle poverty, 10 billion yuan will go to medical subsidies, 18.5 billion yuan will help renovate homes in rural areas and 2 billion yuan will aid people with disabilities, the notice said.

The three ministries required the subsidies to be allocated to counties around the country punctually, the document said. The amount allocated to impoverished counties must be granted in independent categories and the authority will be given to county governments concerning how to spend the subsidies, it added.

New standard for compulsory schools

The Ministry of Education released a standard for the management of compulsory educational schools to improve campus facilities and the quality of education.

The standard includes 22 tasks and 88 provisions, which aim to ensure equal rights for students, promote all-around development for students, provide further training for teachers, improve the quality of education provided, and build a harmonious environment on campus and a modern system for school management.

Other measures were also introduced, including disclosure of fees charged on students. Meanwhile, students must go to schools near their homes in the compulsory education phase, the document said.

Local educational authorities are required to implement the standard on each school with a clear schedule, the notice said.

Heating must be provided for residents

Heating must be provided for urban and rural residents, while clean energy should also be promoted in accordance with local conditions, according to a recent notice released by the National Energy Administration.

The notice said clean heating should be provided by a better supply of clean energy, reinforcing heating pipeline networks and constructing energy-conservation buildings. Local authorities should find diverse ways to provide clean heating and do their utmost to replace coal.

In remote mountainous areas, which have no access to clean energy to replace coal-fired heating, other ways should be adopted to replace coal, including using less-polluting coal and stoves, the document said.