Speaking at the Second China-Europe Senior Forum on Government Management in Beijing on Tuesday, Chen Fujin, vice president of the China National School of Administration, said that China has made improvements in the social development sphere, spending a total of 245.2 billion yuan (US$30.3 billion) on social services and social security in 2004.

Chen said in 2004 China's central budget spending for science and technology, education, culture, health and sports amounted to 98.7 billion yuan (some US$12.2 billion), an increase of 15 percent over the previous year, and a total of 146.5 billion yuan (some US$18.1 billion) was spent on social security, an increase on 18.1 percent from the previous year.

More than 200 Chinese and European government officials and experts gave lectures and exchanged views on social management innovations at the three-day forum.

Increased spending on developing social services in rural areas has produced positive results, Chen said, adding that central government gave out 3.2 billion yuan (some US$0.4 billion) in disaster relief subsidies in the last year, providing assistance to about 68 million people.

Chen said that the Chinese' awareness of democracy and law continues to improve, as does creativity shown when participating in social development affairs. In addition, governments have opened more channels for people to express their ideas and requirements.

But it is not enough, Chen noted, saying China is still a developing country with a large population and a weak economic foundation, and productivity has not reached balanced development. Great differences still exist between cities, towns and villages, with social development lagging behind economic development, along with various other social problems.

This forum was co-sponsored by China National School of Administration and the European Institute of Public Administration. The first forum was held in June 2004 in Beijing.

(Xinhua News Agency September 14, 2005)