With the continuous adjustment of fiscal policies, especially the concept of investing in people, the 2026 central and local budgets, known as the "national ledger," have attracted much attention during this year's two sessions. Will there be any changes in the allocation of fiscal funds? What significant changes will occur in the institutional mechanisms behind investing in people? Opening this year's' National Ledger ', there are two figures that attract attention: the total size of the national general public budget expenditure has exceeded 30 trillion yuan for the first time, indicating that the entire fiscal expenditure is still growing. Another figure is that among the total expenditure of 30 trillion yuan, the money invested in the four major livelihood areas of education, social security and employment, health care, and housing security reached 12.4 trillion yuan, accounting for 41.3% of the total expenditure, reaching the highest point in recent years. This not only means that the country will invest more money in the livelihood sector, but also seems to send a clearer signal. So, what else can we see from the changes in the national ledger this year? Is there a significant transformation in the national fiscal system? The "national ledger" is related to thousands of households. At this year's Two Sessions, which areas of financial investment are the most concerned by representatives and members? Xue Chao, deputy to the National People's Congress, increased the quality supply of educational resources. National People's Congress representative Gao Derong: Can agricultural subsidies be more precise. National People's Congress representative Chen Gui'e: Suggesting to optimize fertility support policies with greater efforts. National People's Congress representative Chen Guoguang: In addition, we need to improve the treatment of village doctors. National People's Congress representative Tan Shuangjian: Ensure social security for migrant workers, and provide some protection once they retire. On Thursday of this week, at the closing ceremony of the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress, the "Resolution on the Implementation of the Central and Local Budgets in 2025 and the Central and Local Budgets in 2026" was passed by vote, and the central budget for 2026 was approved. Zhu Qing, Chief Professor of the Institute of Finance and Taxation at Renmin University of China: Our country has four major budgets: the general public budget, the government fund budget, the state-owned capital operation budget, and the social insurance fund budget. These four major budgets are closely related to the lives of our ordinary people, and the one that is directly linked is the general public budget. All education, medical care, some health, housing security related to the people, as well as government administrative expenses such as diplomacy, national defense, and economic construction, are actually included in the general public budget. This year, the national general public budget expenditure has reached a new level of 30 trillion yuan for the first time. More noteworthy is the fiscal expenditure arrangement in the four major livelihood areas of education, social security and employment, health and hygiene, and housing security, which exceeds 12.4 trillion yuan. Compared with last year, the growth rate has reached about 5%, exceeding the 4.4% growth rate of total expenditure. Compared to five years ago, the increase is more significant. Among the four major livelihood areas, education expenditure has increased by 22% compared to 2021, while social security and employment expenditure have increased by nearly 40% compared to 2021. Zhu Qing, Chief Professor of the Institute of Finance and Taxation at Renmin University of China: This year, the proportion of the four major livelihood expenditures to the total general public budget expenditure can reach about 41.3%, exceeding the proportion of the four major livelihood expenditures in 2017, which was 37.3% at that time, about 4 percentage points, fully reflecting our guiding ideology of closely combining investment in goods and investment in people in budget arrangements, and making the general public budget more inclined towards the livelihood field. The fiscal budget is tilted towards the livelihood sector, which is in line with the requirements of this year's government work report. The report proposes that fiscal expenditures should pay more attention to supporting and boosting consumption, investing in people, and ensuring people's livelihoods. Zhu Qing, Chief Professor of the Institute of Finance and Taxation at Renmin University of China: The main reason for continuously increasing expenditures on people's livelihood in recent years, optimizing the structure of fiscal expenditures, and moving towards increasing the proportion of people's livelihood expenditures, is the proposal for common prosperity put forward at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. One of the characteristics of modernization with Chinese characteristics is the modernization of common prosperity. On the one hand, our income distribution should be more fair and reasonable, and on the other hand, our government spending should be more inclined towards the livelihood of the people. Education, healthcare, hygiene, social security, and housing, which directly affect the interests of the people, require increased financial investment. This is a fundamental guarantee for us to achieve common prosperity. This year's Two Sessions, 'investing in people' has become a highly anticipated policy keyword. In 2025, this statement was first included in the government work report; The just released outline of the 15th Five Year Plan further clarifies that we will adhere to the strategic basis of expanding domestic demand, and closely integrate benefiting people's livelihoods and promoting consumption, investing in goods and investing in people. Zhu Qing, Chief Professor of the Institute of Finance and Taxation at Renmin University of China: Our current consumption growth is still relatively slow, so the central government has also proposed the concept of strong supply and weak demand. Our current demand is insufficient, so if we invest in people, that is to say, increase the expenditure on people, such as education and medical security, it will actually increase our people's income, which is very helpful for expanding demand. Education, social security, employment, health, and investments around "people" are all on the rise. So, where does the money come from? At the economic themed press conference of this year's Two Sessions, the Ministry of Finance calculated another account. Finance Minister Lan Fu'an: With an expenditure of 30 trillion yuan this year, if the overall efficiency increases by 1%, it is equivalent to saving 300 billion yuan, which can accomplish many great things. The Ministry of Finance further stated that using the tight days of party and government organs to exchange for the good days of the people. For example, this year the central government's "three public" funds have been reduced by more than 7%, conference and training funds have been reduced by 10%, and 20 provinces have saved more than 12 billion yuan in funds, reducing redundancy and increasing people's livelihoods. Yang Zhiyong, President of the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences: During the relocation process, efficiency may have improved. For example, if you didn't spend properly in this place, you could have spent better in that place. In this situation, it should be very helpful for us to have so many demands for expenditure and livelihood security, especially for some rigid livelihood demands. From the past emphasis on "putting people first" to the current repeated emphasis on "investing in people", people have firmly taken the C-position. Nowadays, many places are proposing to build a fertility friendly society, a youth friendly society, and an elderly friendly society. Behind these new concepts is actually a major trend: what we need to establish is a population service system that covers the entire population and life cycle. It is precisely in this context that through changes in the budget, we can also see that the government's finances will face great challenges in terms of investment direction and efficiency in the future. This year's Two Sessions, the focus on "people" has begun to run through many policies. The government work report directly points to the comprehensive development of people, from optimizing "one elderly and one small" services, to actively developing elderly human resources, from strengthening entrepreneurial support and guidance, to improving employment measures that adapt to the development of artificial intelligence. The just released outline of the 15th Five Year Plan points out the need to improve a population service system that covers the entire population and their entire life cycle. Yang Zhiyong, President of the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences: We have actually reflected it in various aspects now. You can see that we have subsidies from the whole life cycle of people, starting from young children, and of course, there are many direct ways to help. When you are sick, we have corresponding medical insurance, and at the same time, we can see that the government is actually investing in every stage of human life when necessary. Lei Haichao, Director of the National Health Commission: As of now, we have counted 33 million families who have received childcare subsidies. Some residents use a very vivid analogy to say that once a child is born, they bring their own food and wages. The investment in people throughout the entire lifecycle starts from the starting point. As of now, behind the 33 million families that have received childcare subsidies, there is an investment of over 90 billion yuan from the central government and over 10 billion yuan from local governments. At the same time, last year, there were 890000 new inclusive childcare places added nationwide, bringing the total number of childcare places to 6.6 million. This "childcare start-up fund" with national warmth, along with a constantly woven network of childcare services, and the gradual implementation of free preschool education, can effectively alleviate the fertility anxiety of thousands of families. Yang Zhiyong, President of the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences: Now the government is investing money here to alleviate their burden and indirectly promote high-quality population development. Livelihood expenditures have always emphasized doing one's best and acting within one's means. Often, it is an exploratory process, so helping with parenting is not just reflected in how much money is given each year. Besides education, employment and social security are also important expenditures of the central government in the field of people's livelihood. In 2026, the central government will allocate 66.7 billion yuan in employment subsidies to support local governments in implementing employment and entrepreneurship support policies. In the discussions of the provincial delegations at the Two Sessions, ensuring employment is also a key topic. Faced with the dual impact of rapid iteration of artificial intelligence and economic structural transformation, Sichuan Province has timely launched the "Skill Enhancement Training Year" and "20 Measures for Investing in People" policies. The core logic is to keep training closely aligned with real market demand and invest in large-scale skill enhancement for the workforce. Zhu Qing, Chief Professor of the Institute of Finance and Taxation at Renmin University of China: Why don't we say "investing in people"? We emphasize "investing in people" because "investing in people" emphasizes returns. From the perspective of human capital and investment, spending this money can greatly help improve the physical fitness and educational level of workers, and contribute to the overall output of society. So this kind of benefit is not individual benefit, but the benefit of the whole society, the return of society, and its significance is even greater. In this year's national ledger, the adjustment of basic pension for urban and rural residents is particularly noteworthy. This year, the monthly minimum standard for basic pension for urban and rural residents has been raised by another 20 yuan, reaching 163 yuan after three consecutive years of increase. At present, about 180 million people in China receive basic old-age pensions for urban and rural residents, with farmers accounting for over 70%. The outline of the 15th Five Year Plan clearly proposes to improve the mechanism for determining and adjusting benefits, and gradually increase the basic pension for urban and rural residents. This means that in the next five years, the basic pension for urban and rural residents will continue to increase. Zhu Qing, Chief Professor of the Institute of Finance and Taxation at Renmin University of China: Since 2009, we have established basic pension insurance for urban and rural residents. Because the level varies from place to place, it is not unified by the central government, but determined by the local financial capacity. Of course, the vast majority of regions exceed the minimum standards of this country. It is indeed necessary to address our social security issues and basic elderly care needs for urban and rural residents by increasing revenue and reducing expenses. Some unnecessary expenditures need to be further compressed, that is, to make the most of the money. The fiscal expenditure in the four major areas of people's livelihood has reached a record breaking 12.4 trillion yuan, but facing the diverse needs of various groups and age groups, the scientific management and efficient use of fiscal funds are also facing higher levels of testing. Yang Zhiyong, President of the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences: Because the amount of funds available for people by the entire society or government is fixed, and our budget size is also fixed, in this situation, you can only distinguish between priorities. Ultimately, to solve all aspects well, it depends on the development of the economy and society. economy