China's welfare investment to reach more than $2 trillion

Beijing, Nov 27 (Xinhua) China's total social welfare investment is likely to reach 18 trillion yuan ($2.64 trillion) in 2009, country's top economic planner National Development and Reform Committee (NDRC), said here Thursday.

'China's total social investment exceeded 13 trillion yuan in 2007 and is expected to top 16 trillion yuan this year,' said NDRC head Zhang Ping. 'The four trillion stimulus package is only part of the whole picture.'

Zhang said the central stimulus package was roughly divided into seven parts, with 1.8 trillion yuan going towards large-scale infrastructure projects such as railways, roads, airports and the national grid.

Areas most affected by the May 12 earthquake in the southwestern Sichuan province will get one trillion yuan for reconstruction.

The rest of the stimulus money will be spent on affordable housing, rural welfare, infrastructure, medical and cultural development, environmental protection and industrial restructuring.

While welcoming provincial governments' participation in boosting domestic demand, Zhang said the NDRC would impose a strict review and approval procedure on all projects submitted by local economic planners.

'Only those projects in accordance with the national development plan will be considered,' he stressed.

The NDRC will give priority to local construction plans that focus on industrial restructuring, raising living standards and environmental improvement, according to Zhang.

'We will closely examine provincial projects and make sure to stamp out potential duplication,' Zhang added.