Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao meets the press

十一届全国人大五次会议于3月14日闭幕。闭幕后，国务院总理温家宝在人民大会堂三楼金色大厅与采访十一届全国人大五次会议的中外记者见面，回答记者提出的问题。以下为温家宝答问实录：

中央电视台记者：近年来您已经有很多次提起要促进社会的公平正义，但是现在社会上一些不公平的现象仍然是老百姓关注的焦点。请问您在任期之内还会做哪些工作进一步促进社会的公平正义？另外，我们知道您常常会上网，在网络上您可以看到网民对政府工作、对您本人的肯定和赞扬，但是也会有“拍砖”的，您怎么看待这些批评的声音？

温家宝：我曾经说过，公平正义比太阳还光辉。公平正义是社会主义的本质特征。实事求是地讲，9年来，我们为实现社会的公平正义做了大量不可磨灭的工作。

首先，在法律上，我们通过修改宪法，将尊重和保障人权写入宪法。我们制定了物权法，使合法的私有财产得到法律保护。我们修改了选举法，使城乡选民具有平等的权利。我们废除了收容遣送条例，使农民自由进城务工。在短短的几年，中国城市化率超过50%。

其次，在农村，我们坚决地取消了农业税，减轻了农民的不合理负担。

第三，在教育上，我们实行了九年免费义务制教育。对农村的孩子上职业学校实行免费，同时对大学和农村高中阶段的教育实行奖助学金制度，对困难地区农村寄宿制学校给予补贴。

第四，我们建立和完善了包括养老、失业、医疗、低保在内的社会保障体系。企业职工医疗保险、城市居民医疗保险和新农合已经覆盖13亿人口。

这些都是我们社会朝着公平正义迈出了具有制度性的一步。当然，我深知，社会分配不公以及司法不公还引起群众的不满。我们必须继续推进促进社会公平的各项工作。

在我任职的最后一年，我们政府将做几件困难的事情，一定要做，努力做好，而不留给后人。

第一件事情，就是要制定收入分配体制改革的总体方案。第二件事情，就是要制定并出台农村集体土地征收补偿条例，真正保障农民承包地的财产权。第三件事情，实现城乡养老保险的全覆盖。第四件事情，按照新的标准全面推进集中连片的贫困地区的扶贫工作。第五件事情，我们已经将教育经费占GDP的4%列入预算，我们一定要通过努力实现这个目标，并使经费合理使用。谢谢你。

政府的一切权力都是人民赋予的，我们应该创造条件让人民提出意见批评政府。因此，在网上听到有“拍砖”的声音，我并不感到奇怪，我以为这是正常的事情。群众许多批评的意见值得我们深思，而政府重视和决定的许多重大问题，经常是从群众“拍砖”里头得到的。

我甚至考虑，把一些经常批评政府的代表人士请到中南海，面对面地听取他们意见。如果你们注意的话，在今年政府工作报告听取意见的安排中，我们已经尝试做了，但还很不够。

在我担任总理期间，确实谣诼不断，我虽然不为所动，但是心里也不免感到有些痛苦。这种痛苦不是信而见疑、忠而被谤的痛苦，而是我独立的人格不为人们所理解，我对社会感到有点忧虑。我将坚持人言不足恤的勇气，义无反顾地继续奋斗。

CCTV: You have said on many occasions that social equity and fairness should be promoted. Yet lack of fairness is still the focus of public attention. I would like to ask you what steps you will take during the remainder of your term of office to promote social fairness and justice. We know that you often log onto the Internet. There have been a lot of comments on the Internet on the work of the government and you yourself. There are both positive and critical comments. How do you see the criticism?

Wen Jiabao: I have said before that equity and justice shine more brightly than the sun. Equity and justice are the defining features of socialism. As a matter of fact, over the past nine years, the government has put a large amount of effort in promoting social equity and justice and these efforts should be fully recognized.

On the legal front, we have amended the Chinese Constitution and that the State respects and protects human rights has been incorporated into the Constitution. We have formulated the property law to protect lawful private assets. We have amended the election law to ensure equal rights of rural and urban voters. We have abolished the regulations on internment and repatriation, giving farmers freedom of movement to work in cities. In a short span of several years, the urbanization rate in China has exceeded 50 percent.

Second, in the rural areas, we have abolished the agricultural tax to ease the burden on farmers.

Third, as far as education is concerned, we have made nine-year compulsory education free and universally available. We have exempted tuition fees for rural students engaged in vocational education. We have provided scholarships and financial aid for college education and senior middle school education in rural areas. We have provided subsidies for students of rural boarding schools in poor areas.

Fourth, we have established and improved the social security system that covers old-age support, unemployment insurance, medical insurance and subsistence allowance. The programs of medical insurance for both working and non-working urban residents and the new rural cooperative medical care scheme now cover all the 1.3 billion people in China.

These are institutional arrangements we have made to promote social equity and justice. I am fully aware that the people are still complaining about income disparities, judicial unfairness and other problems. We must continue to do a conscientious job in promoting social equity and justice.

In my last year in office, the government plans to take on some tough tasks. We are determined to accomplish these tasks rather than pass the problems to the next government.

First, we will formulate an overall plan for the reform of the income distribution system. Second, we will formulate and introduce regulations on the expropriation and compensation of collectively owned rural land so as to ensure farmers' property right conferred by the law. Third, we will extend the coverage of old-age insurance to the entire Chinese population. Fourth, on the basis of the newly set poverty standard, we will press ahead with the work of poverty alleviation in contiguous areas with particular difficulties. And fifth, the government has arranged its budget to meet the target of raising the share of government expenditure on education to 4 percent of the GDP. We must make every effort to meet this target and ensure that the money is wisely spent.

All the power of the government comes from the people. The government should create conditions for the people to make their views and criticism about the government heard. I don't feel surprised that there have been critical comments on the Internet about the performance of the government and I think it is only natural for that to happen. The government must seriously reflect on the critical views that the people have made. As a matter of fact, the government has gained much food for thought from those critical comments of the public on the Internet while taking decisions on major issues.

I have thought about inviting representatives of people who on a regular basis make critical comments about the government to Zhongnanhai so that we can hear their views face-to-face. If you have followed the news coverage about my soliciting views from the public on the government work report this year, you may have found out that such arrangement has been made. But I think it is far from enough.

During my term of office as the premier, there have been some slanders about me. I have not allowed myself to be disturbed by those slanders. But still they have caused some pain. Not the pain because a man of integrity and loyalty has been questioned and wronged, but because my independent character has not won people's understanding and that has made me feel a bit worried about society. I will continue to press ahead with my work without hesitation and misgivings and with the courage that one should not fear the rumors and slanders from others.