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BEIJING, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government has pumped money to the country's less developed regions through transfer payments to ease the fiscal difficulties of local governments, Finance Minister Xiao Jie said Friday.
Xiao was briefing lawmakers on a State Council report about the fiscal transfer payment system at the the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee's bi-monthly session.
The central government has transferred 154 billion yuan (about 22 billion U.S. dollars) to border, ethnic and poverty-stricken areas and to former revolutionary bases this year, said Xiao, comparing the amount with the 108 billion yuan paid in 2013.
The government has also made more general transfer payments rather than special to give beneficiaries a bigger say in the use of funds, as special transfer payments can only be spent as specified.
In 2016, the central government made a total of 5.3 trillion yuan of transfer payments, of which 3.2 trillion yuan were general and 2.1 trillion yuan special.
