1. Asahi Broadcasting Shanghai Office: Our reporters once said that you won’t answer questions irrelevant to the information released at a press conference. But we all still want to ask a question which has attracted Japanese media’s attention. A lot of Japanese enterprises have settled down in Jiading District. Some of which established their plants only a year ago, however, they were notified to relocate by local governments recently. The same governments once provided them with preferential policies in order to attract them. Why did this happen? Can you provide an explanation here, including the methods that the government will take to solve the problem?

Jiao Yang: This is actually a press conference about migrant workers. Reporters have clarified what a press conference is. It is unnecessary for me to repeat it. For this question, I think reporters can get further information from the local government and obtain clear answers. The only things I want to say is that reporters should understand and believe that governments of different levels in the city will implement administrative measures by the law and with investors’ legal rights in mind. Ok, let’s go onto the next question.

2.  NHK: I’m a reporter from NHK Shanghai station, still the question about relocation happened in Jiading District, so I’m very interested with the topic. You’ve said that the local government will tackle it. But, I’ve heard that the Japanese consulate has handed in written materials to relevant departments of the municipal government. Do you know whether there is a reply from the municipal government for the issue? Are there any problems on the tackling process of the issue?

Jiao Yang:   I’ve said just then, governments of each level in Shanghai will treat investors and their benefits seriously. However, today’s press conference is about migrant workers’ rights and benefit protection. If you need help for further acknowledgement, we can do it after the conference. Shanghai municipal government and governments of each level shall launch administrations legally and shall protect investor’s legal rights and benefits in accordance with the law.

3. News Times: I have two questions about migrant workers. The first is whether migrant workers enjoy the same employment rights as local residents if they work in the city? And what does Shanghai do to provide convenience and services for migrant workers to work in the city? The second question is: what does Shanghai do to promote the establishment of a social security system, which also meets the demand of migrant workers?

Jiao Yang: Migrant workers’ employment is a very important issue. Relevant departments in the city took great efforts to provide convenient services for migrant workers to take up jobs in Shanghai. Migrant workers enjoy the same treatment as their local Shanghai counterparts.  

For public services offered on employment, Shanghai has established an employment service center. Migrant workers can enjoy free of charge services including job recommendations, job guidance, labor contract signing assistance, policy enquiry, insurance fee -- pay handling and information seeking. Just like local residents, migrant workers can get their labor handbook and make employment registration after being employed.

On the fulfillment of basic labor standards, Shanghai has already carried out a non-discrimination policy. No matter the lowest salary, working hours or basic working conditions, migrant workers are considered the same as local residents and share the same standards. This is the employment service mentioned by the reporter a moment ago.

Shanghai has established China’s first employment service center in Minhang District. After six months of trial operation, it won migrant workers and employers’ support. Now, Songjiang and Jiading districts have also established their service centers and began to launch employment services for migrant workers

In another development, the employment security system for migrant workers is also very important. Shanghai pays special attention to the establishment of its social security system and makes great efforts to promote the social security system, which meets the demands of migrant workers. It is one of the most important parts of constructing a socialist harmonized society.

Because most of the migrant workers who arrived in Shanghai are youngsters, who do hard labor and are often moved from one place to another, the city has designed a relevant complex insurance system accordingly to meet their demands. The insurance system will guarantee their rights and won’t block their movement from one place to another.

The system implemented in 2002 mainly focused on working injuries and medical insurance. It also offers subsidies as their future pension. They will receive the same working injury insurance and in-hospital medical treatment as local residents as well as daily medical subsidies, the current standard is 20 yuan a month per person. Pension subsidies are calculated based on how long employers have paid their employees. Each of them will be given a certificate annually and they can take the entire sum of their pension in any residences they live in after retiring.

Employers will pay the bill, so migrant workers needn’t pay it. By then, more than 2.6 million migrant workers have participated in the system. Among them, 25,000 have enjoyed treatment for working injuries, while 16,000 have enjoyed in-hospital medical services. About 1.95 million of them have taken the certificate.

4.Wenhui Daily: What is the procedure for a promised service? Are those service agencies hospitals at local residents’ registered residence? What is the procedure?

Ma Qiang: Official documents about the exemption of out-patient fares will be issued soon, since the policy of the exemption needs financial support from governments of district or county levels. So, we need each citizen to choose his or her own residential area to enjoy the preferential policy, so that the district or county government will know the number of the people it shall support for them to enjoy the policy.  Basically, after making the choice, you will enjoy the policy in each of the residential health centers in the district. If you relocate to another place, or change your working place, you can adjust your choice and choose a new residential area, so that the policy will be able to cover each of the local residents in good order.

5. The 21st Business Herald: I have two questions. The first one is for Mr. Ma Qiang. How much will the city finance to pay for the residential medical services annually? After implementing the new policy, how much will be paid a year. What is the proportion for city finance and district finance to pay for the bill? Since the trial for the service has been launched in Changning and Songjiang districts, money paid for medical insurance went up or slid down? Could you show me the figure? How about the total budget management and the total amount paid for medical insurance?

The second question is for Ms. Jiao Yang, about the complex insurance for migrant people. I want to know the total sum of the system for migrant people after two years of implementation.

And, I know a new regulation was passed at a standing conference held by the municipal government not long ago. However, it hasn’t been published. I want to know when it will be published. Thank you.

Ma Qiang: I’d like to answer some easier questions first. After launching the exemption and reduction policy, we should understand that both the municipal government and district government shall take a heavier burden, because one of the most important parts of the residential medical service reform is to manifest the leading role of the government. About 35% of local residents see doctors in their own residence, according to the total amount of the out-patient or emergency services provided, which means about 27 million to 30 million visits for out-patients or emergency services are done in residences. However, a fluctuation in the number of visits might take place after launching the new policy. It is difficult to make an accurate estimation for the change in the number. But, for one thing, it has been confirmed that both the municipal government and district governments will take responsibility as one of the government’s obligations and both the municipal government and governments of district level will take 50 percent of the total expenses for each.

For residents who have joined the urban employment security system, the expenses will be burdened with medical security fund added, so it will let city residents enjoy the preferential policy from residential services provided.

The second question is about the reform of Changning and Songjiang districts. The reform in Changning and Songjiang is mainly to replace the current operating system with a two line management system for revenues and expenditures, which means all the revenues for residential medical centers will be handed in and the city’s health authority will layout a budget for their expenditures. Both the medical staff and health centers will serve people and the society heart and soul without worrying about how to make profit from the income. After launching the new system, the average service fare for residential health services was 108.69 yuan at the first half of the year, down 1.6 percent from a year ago and was also 52.15 yuan lower than the cost of the same services in district or county level hospitals. The average service cost in Changing and Songjiang is also lower the city’s average. The cost for some services was even 24 percent lower than previous. So the reform has made great achievements, especially in prices.

Shanghai is a city that people come and go from, so do the people who join the medical insurance system. The migrant population accounts for a large population in some districts of the city, even hitting around 30 percent. It even reached 1.05 million in Minhang District, much more than registered local residents. So it is a basic principle. However, the payment system is according to the total sum of the city’s residents being served.

Jiao Yang: For further information about migrant people’s complex insurance, reporters can go to relevant government agencies for inquiries. The administrative rule about social security funds was published on the portal Website of Shanghai municipal government two weeks ago.

6. Mainichi Newspapers : China’s vice premier Huang Ju is reportedly in Shanghai, showing up at some government meetings.  I’m wondering the reason for a central party leader’s visit in Shanghai and why for such a long period?

Jiao Yang: Concerning the work of the nation’s top leaders, I’m afraid I’m not the right person to answer this question. Sorry.

Mainichi Newspapers : I have little chance to raise the question, except in Shanghai. Please provide us some information on why Huang Ju has stayed in Shanghai.

Jiao Yang: I’ve said the question is beyond the scope of questions I’m authorized to take. I’m not the right person to answer it. Thanks.

7. Wen Wei Po:  I have two questions. The first is foreign media said a few days ago that Shanghai’s Disney Land project has been suspended. I want to know some further details about the progress of the project. The second question is about recent media reports that said Zhou Zhengyi was cast into prison again, but Shanghai Municipal Government didn’t do any declarations. I would like a spokesman to introduce relevant information.

Jiao Yang: I think some reporters have forgotten that this is a press conference about migrant workers. I’ll say it again, only ask questions based on the information released. If reporters have some other questions, we can discuss them after the conference, but it is still a press conference on migrant workers. I don’t want to change the topic.

8. Shanghai Morning Post: I have a question about migrant workers. Salary delaying for migrant workers has attracted public attention. I would like to know the situation in Shanghai. Is there any salary delaying in the city? By the way, Mr Jiao said there is a salary delaying prevention system during the introduction. Could you provide more details about the system?

I will answer the question in two steps. First, Shanghai has solved all the revealed migrant workers’ pay issues so far.

Second: Because Shanghai is always seeking the best way to establish a system to protect migrant workers’ legal rights and benefits, I will introduce what the city did to solve salary delaying for migrant workers and the city’s mechanism establishment on this issue in two aspects.

The first is that the city has improved the current pay delaying guarantee system focusing on small enterprises and is promoting a system, which orders the enterprises to pay margins for salary’s and has a mechanism to take back money after the event.       .

From June this year, Shanghai has launched salary delaying and an owing prevention system in the civil engineering industry around the city. Around the same period, relevant departments have established salary delaying or an owing prevention system for migrant workers. For example, in the civil engineering industry, the city has published several policies to regulate salary payment for migrant workers and to protect their legal rights since the beginning of this year.

The second is that Shanghai has established a labor inspection and dispute settlement system to serve migrant workers.

To protect migrant workers’ labor rights and benefits, Shanghai labor inspection authority will offer services every day and set up hotlines. Authorities will launch inspections right after accepting reports. In the past three years, the labor inspection authority has taken back 600 million yuan for 750,000 migrant workers. Each district or county in Shanghai has established labor disputes settlement agencies to serve migrant workers free of charge. Settlement agencies have tackled 30,000 disputes, which involved 50,000 migrant workers and helped migrant workers to take back 100 million yuan.

A new policy issued by the city government orders to solve salary delaying for migrant workers via several methods.

The first method is for salary delaying and insurance delaying. Authorities will solve all such delays they find to protect migrant workers rights of being paid for their hard work.

The second is to further enhance the labor inspection and implement 24-hour report accepting system. Authorities will prepay migrant workers if they are confirmed to have suffered salary delays or being shortly paid. Enterprises in the civil engineering industry, which hire a lot of migrant workers, will be ordered to establish a salary margin system for migrant workers.

The third is that employers, who bear bad records on delaying or shortly paying migrant workers’ salary, may not be qualified for market access, bidding or launching of new construction projects.

The fourth is that industrial and commercial administrative authorities will inspect enterprises, which are notified by labor security authorities for their bad records on delaying or shortly paying migrant workers’ salary. Labor security authorities are entitled to punish those enterprises and suggest industrial and commercial authority revoke their licenses.

Through the protection of systems in the above-mentioned, migrant workers’ legal rights and benefits, especially their rights to be paid on time without any shortage, will be protected.

9. Jiefang Daily: I have a question, which has been mentioned in the information released—the exemption for the out-patient fee burdened by individuals receiving community medical services. How much is the self-burdened out-patient fee?

Ma Qiang: During the implementation of the policy, all seven yuan will be exempted when people enjoy services at residential health centers. The seven yuan is made up of two parts, for a resident who joins urban medical insurance, they need to pay only one yuan, and the other six yuan will be paid by the medical insurance fund.

Jiefang Daily: So residents enjoy one yuan off?

Ma Qiang: No. If you go see a doctor, your self burdened proportion will be exempted from the fare you need to pay. You should also pay cash in the future for another proportion of the fare which was burdened by yourselves. So, totally seven yuan is exempted from the fare.

10. Manichi Newspapers: The forcible relocation of factories near Hongqiao airport caused a series of trouble for migrant workers’ employment and daily lives. Does Shanghai Municipal Government have plans to stop such kinds of forcible relocation or take measures to subsidize those migrant workers?

Jiao Yang: For migrant workers, we have a series of policies. What I issued today are relevant policies to improve migrant workers’ livelihoods.

Relevant government agencies will fulfill the policy.        

For the individual case you mentioned, I don’t know much about it, but I think we will protect migrant workers’ legal rights and benefits and abide by the law.