China plans to cut government economic intervention

China's cabinet announced detailed plans on deepening economic reform on Monday, fulfilling its pledge to cut government interventions that hinder more robust growth in the world's second-largest economy.

In an executive meeting of the State Council headed by Premier Li Keqiang, the government vowed to take a pragmatic approach in pushing reforms and to mobilize resources and waste no time to make them successful.

"Facing the current tasks of stabilizing growth, controlling inflation, mitigating risks and striving to foster an 'upgraded version' of the economy, it is imperative to take pragmatic moves to deepen reforms," according to a statement released after the meeting.

Efforts should be focused on pushing the targeted reforms which have accumulated conditions to realize and could produce chain effects. Resolution is needed to make them successful to release more bonuses from reform and spur vitality for social and economic development, the statement continued.

In its detailed plan, the government will cancel or delegate power to lower levels concerning 62 items that were previously subject to central government administrative approval, after similar approaches were taken on 71 items last month.

It will improve measures to check local government debts and make the budget system more transparent and standardized.

It will encourage and support private capital's use in owning and operating inter-city and regional railways and invest in the current backbone lines.

The government reiterated its determination to introduce more market-oriented reforms of the formation systems of foreign exchange and interest rates.

It will announce detailed plans on allowing the yuan's conversion under the capital account, and protecting the interests of small and individual investors.

Meeting basic living needs, the government will establish a tiered pricing system for consuming electricity, water and gas, leaving fees determined more by the market.

Further efforts will be made to deepen reforms in state-run hospitals and accelerate medicare insurance on serious illness in urban and rural areas.

The government will implement the strictest regulatory policies on food and medicine safety and improve related access system.

It will enhance the distribution of security housing and strengthen monitoring and compensation on environmental protection.

Residential system reform shall be further promoted to fulfill high-quality urbanization with an innovative medium- and long-term development planning.

It will progress modernized agriculture with a solid system of confirming, registering and certificating property to protect the rights of people in rural areas.

The reform will also cover small-sized water conservancy projects and state-owned forest regions.

The government will give full play to the supportive functions of technology in economic growth through boosting innovation and integrating resources in an enterprise-oriented policy.

The statement also stressed the right timing and practice of all the detailed reform plans and demanded the proper relations between market, public and government, abiding by laws.

Since 2001, the State Council has introduced six rounds of reforms canceling or adjusting its intervention in more than 2,400 investment and production items.

"With fewer items subject to administrative approval, the new government has shown its determination to facilitate market-oriented reform," said Nie Gaomin, director of the Economic Structure and Management Institute with the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner.