Housing sold at low prices to low-income earners to get them affordable shelters. Starting in 1998, the central government decided to offer favorable policies to housing developers so that they could build apartments of specified sizes and prices. Families with living floor space or income under given standards could apply for purchasing the apartments at prices much lower than the market prices. Eligibility standards for purchasing economical housing are set by provincial authorities according to local situations. Economical housing is subject to special clauses for trading in market, which discourage profiting from the property. It is an integrated part of the State efforts to shelter groups with limited financial resources. (来源：EnglishCN.com)

三资企业 Foreign-funded enterprises

A term for three kinds of foreign-invested enterprises or ventures in China, which include Sino-foreign joint ventures, cooperative businesses, and exclusively foreign-owned enterprises. As an economic entity responsible for their own profits and losses, these enterprises are set up within China after being approved by relevant State departments and are run in accordance with China's laws. Since reform and opening-up in 1978, these enterprises have played an important role in helping the country absorb foreign investment, introduce foreign advanced technologies and management know-how, as well as expand export.

铁饭碗 Iron Rice Bowl

A guaranteed job many Chinese people dreamed of getting during the era of the planned economy. People didn't need to worry about their future once they gained a post usually in government departments and State or collectively run factories. But since the reform and opening-up www.rr365.com was adopted in 1978 and the new labor system and the market economy came into being, such a stable employment model, which hindered people's creativity to a large extent, has gradually been shattered. The establishment of the new and competitive employment model has contributed a lot to the country's productivity and its rapid development.

菜篮子工程Non-Staple Food Project

In 1988, the Ministry of Agriculture started this project against a background that the country could not produce enough non-grain food with rich diversity. Under the project, agricultural bases were established to boost production and supply, and special markets for agricultural produce were set up. By the mid 1990s, food diversity was improved and a reserve network was established around the country. The project then shifted its focus on food safety and branding.

西部大开发Western Development

A drive launched by the central government in 2000 to promote social and economic progress in the central and western parts of the country, which are relatively less developed than the rest of the country.

By injecting financial aid and offering favorable policies, the State wants to speed up infrastructure construction, industrialization and poverty eradication in these areas. Officials, technicians and other qualified talents have been dispatched from the eastern regions to lend a hand.

The campaign covers nearly 400 million people living in Chongqing Municipality, Sichuan Province, Guizhou Province, Yunnan Province, the Tibet Autonomous Region, Shaanxi Province, Gansu Province, Qinghai Province, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

又好又快发展Sound and Fast Development

A goal set for China's economic progress that underscores both quality and speed. Officials attending the Central Economic Work Conference in 2005 made "fast and sound" development one of the country's goals. It was revised to "sound and fast" development at the following year's conference. In his report to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2007, General Secretary Hu Jintao said the economy must advance in a comprehensive, balanced and sustainable manner by putting "sound" before "fast". The change demonstrates the central government's determination to bring about a shift in the country's economic growth mode.

小康社会 A moderately prosperous society