Guaranteeing that every citizen's basic needs are met is the goal of Hebei's social policy, according to a report from the provincial government.

The local government shifted its focus in recent years to issues affecting quality of life, such as housing, pension and healthcare.

A comprehensive housing guarantee system has been established that includes rental and indemnificatory housing for low-income families, immigrant workers and the newly employed.

By the end of this year, Hebei will have constructed 220,000 homes for low-income families.

In Shijiazhuang, the capital city of the province, the municipal government just distributed a total of 3,083 indemnificatory apartments to eligible citizens.

An indemnificatory apartment is one type of the public rental housing.

People can rent it at the market price, and the government will offer them an allowance to make sure they can afford the rent.

According to the report, there will be another round of indemnificatory apartment allocation at the end of the year in Shijiazhuang.

Rural and urban residents of Hebei are enjoying social pension insurance and basic medical insurance.

The new rural cooperative medical care now covers 96.2 percent of rural residents.

The standard allowance for low-income families exceeds the national average for rural and urban residents.

With a GDP that ranks sixth in China, local incomes have risen steadily in recent years.

In 2012, the average annual disposable income of the urban residents was 20,543 yuan ($3,357), an increase of 12.3 percent compared to a year earlier.

The per capita net income of rural residents was 8,081 yuan ($1,320), up 13.5 percent on a year-on-year basis.

The employment and re-employment rates in Hebei also lead the nation. In 2012, the number of newly employed in all counties reached 721,000.

zhangyu@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/17/2013 page16)