Ningxia aims for 5.5% GDP growth in 2025

Ningxia Hui autonomous region plans to achieve a GDP growth of 5.5 percent and a 6 percent growth in per capita disposable income for all residents in 2025, said Zhang Yupu on Sunday while delivering the government work report at the opening ceremony of the third Session of the 13th People's Congress of the region in Yinchuan.

Zhang, chairman of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region government, said that Ningxia will invest 12.5 billion yuan ($1.71 billion) to improve people's life quality in 40 aspects and satisfy needs for public services.

Ningxia aims to address the discrepancies between talent supply and demand by coordinating government-subsidized skill training for over 20,000 individuals, transitioning over 800,000 rural laborers to the non-agricultural sector and urban employment, and generating an additional 80,000 jobs in urban areas.

It plans to establish 25,000 new public welfare positions of various types and guarantee stable employment for at least one individual from each zero-employment family.

The Federation of Trade Unions of Ningxia provides health check-ups for 60,000 outdoor workers and those in new forms of employment, purchases personal accident insurance for some 50,000 workers, and endeavors to protect employees in new forms against occupational injury, said Wu Huijun, a member of the Ningxia Political Consultative Conference and vice-chairman of the Federation.

Moreover, Ningxia attempts to increase 7,200 degrees for compulsory education and high school population and strives to achieve more than 73 percent enrollment quotas.

Free screening for key diseases with congenital disabilities and HPV vaccination for girls of school age are provided.

Zhang also noted that the target is to renovate 15,000 households in the old residential communities, deliver 100 percent of existing housing projects, and transfer certificates promptly.

Yang Fan, deputy director of the Ningxia Human Resources and Social Security department, said that the region will improve its lifelong vocational training system, hold more than 1,000 online and offline job fairs, and issue over one billion yuan (about $137.3 million) as an entrepreneurship guarantee loan to support more than 50,000 individuals in starting their businesses. To protect workers' rights in new employment forms, Ningxia aims to fully implement a labor contract system in the express delivery industry and achieve a 90 percent contract-signing rate. Additionally, 2,000 qualified workers who participate in the skill training can obtain subsidies ranging from 1,000 to 6,000 yuan.

Guo Yanqi contributed to this story.