On 17th April, the 7th Annual Conference of the National Association of Government Budget Research and the Academic Symposium on "Deepening the Reform of the Budget Management System" has been held at ZUEL. The conference was co-organized by the National Association of Government Budget Research, the School of Finance and Taxation of ZUEL,IIDPF, Review of Economic Research and Contemporary Finance & Economics. The conference was also co-organised by the National Society of Budget and Accounting Research and Budget Management and Accounting. More than 80 experts and scholars from more than 20 universities, research institutions, Department of Finance of Hubei Province and Hubei Provincial People's Congress Pre-Working Committee and other institutions across the country have conducted in-depth discussions on the theme of the conference.
The morning was devoted to the opening of the Congress and the keynote speeches. The opening ceremony of the symposium was successfully held at 8.30am in the conference room on the 7th floor of the Zhongyuan Building. The opening ceremony was chaired by President Zhang Kezhong and the opening speech was delivered by Professor Yang Canming, President of ZUEL. In his speech, President Yang pointed out that the government budget reflects the country's strategies and policies, and reflects the scope and direction of the government's activities. Budget is an important support to promote the modernisation of the national governance system and governance capacity, and is a governance tool for macro-regulation. Both the Proposal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the 2035 Visionary Goals and the Opinions on Further Deepening the Reform of the Budget Management System emphasise the importance of deepening the reform of the budget management system. Against this background, it is timely and significant to hold this symposium.
Ma Haitao, Vice President of Central University of Finance and Economics and President of the National Association of Government Budget Research, pointed out in his speech that the Party Central Committee and the State Council have attached great importance to budget management. Since the 18th Party Congress, and especially since the implementation of the revised Budget Law in 2015, China has continued to deepen the reform of its budget management system, providing the basic conditions for the establishment of a modern budget system, and by extension, a modern fiscal and taxation system. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Party Central Committee made plans for the establishment of a modern fiscal, tax and financial system and the deepening of the reform of the budget system. The symposium will provide a platform for experts and scholars in the field of finance and taxation to conduct in-depth discussions and jointly provide theoretical support and policy recommendations for the reform of the national budget management system.
Wang Guangkun, executive vice president of the National Association of Government Budget Research, expressed that it is particularly urgent to deepen the reform of the budget system and establish a modern financial and taxation system. Vice President Wang gave an in-depth interpretation of the Opinions on Further Deepening the Reform of the Budget Management System issued by the State Council, and proposed future research directions and priorities. This includes how to conscientiously implement the Opinions; focus on problem orientation and bottom-line thinking, focus on target orientation and top-level design; clarify the relationship between the reform of the budget management system and the modernisation of national governance capacity and governance system, clarify the relationship between budgeting and the co-ordination of government resources, and clarify the relationship between central government finance and local government finance. He hoped that the experts and scholars attending the symposium would collide with each other and provide their unique insights to promote the reform of the budget management system.
At 9.20am, the first stage of the conference keynote was chaired by Professor Li Yan from the Central University of Finance and Economics. Prof. Li Chungen, Vice President of Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Prof. Yang Zhi'an, Head of Party Committee Propaganda Department of Liaoning University, Prof. Deng Shulian of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and Prof. Wang Jinxiu of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law delivered reports theming "Promoting Budget Performance Management of Social Insurance Fund", "Suggestions on the Provincial People's Congress Strengthening Budgetary Supervision in Response to the Epidemic - Taking Liaoning Province as an Example", "Regulating the Government's Financial Power" and "Innovating a Budget System with Chinese Characteristics Based on a Big Budget Perspective".
The second phase of the conference keynote was chaired by Professor Yang Zhi'an of Liaoning University. Prof. Sun Yudong of Renmin University of China, Prof. Xiao Peng of Central University of Finance and Economics, Prof. Wang Yinmei of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, and relevant comrades from the finance department of Hubei Province delivered speeches theming "Special transfer mechanism", "Standardisation of fiscal expenditure", "The Relationship between Public Concern and Local Government Fiscal Transparency" and "Budget Performance Management Practice in Hubei".
The afternoon discussion was divided into two sessions. Sub-meeting 1 was held in Conference Room 601 North, Wenquan Building. The first phase of the conference was chaired by Wang Hongying, Director of Review of Economic Research. Prof. Zhou Keqing from Southwest University of Finance and Economics, Prof. Liu Minghui from Northeast University of Finance and Economics, Prof. Wen Laicheng from Central University of Finance and Economics, Prof. Wang Hongmei from Central University of Finance and Economics, Prof. Shen Liang from Shandong University of Finance and Economics, and Associate Prof. Miao Qinghong from Peking University delivered speeches theming "Problems and suggestions for countermeasures in the supervision of local budget networking", "Enhanced macro guidance on budgeting", "Local government debt management and government governance issues", "Commonalities and differences of budgetary performance management systems in Chinese and Western governments", "The changing budgetary environment and the reform of budget democratization and legalization" and "Contingency budget system construction".
In sub-meeting 2, Professor Cao Tangzhe from Central University of Finance and Economics, Professor Wen Xiaocai from Henan College of Finance and Economics, Professor Chen Yadong from Shaoxing College of Arts and Science, Director Tang Yisheng from the Standing Committee of Xuanhan County People's Congress in Sichuan Province, Dr Gong Xiaoyun from Southwest University of Finance and Economics and Dr Wang Menzhi from ZUEL delivered reports theming "Application of cost-benefit analysis in budget management performance", "Revenue budget", "Performance evaluation of talent policy", "Review and supervision of full-caliber budget and final accounts by the NPC in the new era", "Theoretical considerations and policy recommendations on structuring budget expenditure" and "Emergency governance of public health in mega cities from the perspective of full-cycle management".
In the meantime, the second session of the symposium was held in Conference Room 403 North, Wenquan Building. Sub-meeting 1 was chaired by Professor Mao Hui of ZUEL. Professor Li Hongxia from Capital University of Economics and Business, Professor Li Yihua from Shandong University, Professor Li Zhen from Central University of Finance and Economics, Professor Song Xuehong from Jilin College of Commerce and Industry, Professor Yang Yanying from Central University of Finance and Economics, Lecturer Xu Jin from Wuhan University and Lecturer Wei Jihua from Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, delivered their reports respectively theming "Effective government investment", "Budget monitoring by the National People's Congress", "Multi-dimensional budget disclosure", "Tax and fee reduction from the perspective of national governance ", "Performance evaluation incentive and restraint mechanism", "Budget science", and "Public budget governance".
The sub-meeting 2 was chaired by Prof. Zhou Quanlin from the editorial office of Contemporary Finance & Economics. Professor Jiang Aihua from Central University of Finance and Economics, Professor Wang Jinxia from Jilin University of Finance and Economics, Professor Xu Xiaowen from the editorial board of Journal of Shandong University of Finance and Economics, Professor Wang Sheng from Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Associate Professor Yang Jin from Southwest University of Finance and Economics and Dr. Yang Zaiting from Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, made presentations respectively theming "Administrative state-owned assets management system", "Budget performance management reform of the US government", "'Budget performance management of new industries, new business models and new business models", "Complete integration of state-owned assets income into budget management", "Legalization of local government budgets", and "Improving budget networking supervision".
At 5pm, the discussions and exchanges in each session ended successfully. Professor Chen Zhiyong of ZUEL, and Professor Xiao Peng, Vice Dean of Graduate School of Central University of Finance and Economics, made closing concluding remarks in response to the exchanges and outcomes of this academic symposium. The symposium was thus a great success.
