Premier confident growth will be stable in year ahead

Premier Li Keqiang said he is confident about stable economic growth this year amid mixed signals on growth at home and abroad as the domestic economy slows.

Addressing a seminar soliciting suggestions on a draft Government Work Report last week, he called on non-Communist parties to cooperate with the government to deal with the difficulties facing the economy.

The report is to be delivered to the plenary session of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, in early March.

Li said China's economy will face more challenges than last year, noting the complex domestic and international situation.

"The government is faced with various difficulties. It is impossible to make a perfect choice," he told representatives from eight non-Communist parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and others without party affiliations, who attended the seminar.

Deliberations with non-Communist parties is an element of the country's multiparty political consultation system and a regular procedure for the State Council.

Li assured the representatives that the government is determined to have stable, good-quality growth, albeit at a slower pace.

Last year, the Chinese economy grew at its slowest pace in almost a quarter of a century: 7.4 percent, down from 7.7 percent in 2013.

Li said he has taken notice of the different opinions on China's economic development. The International Monetary Fund forecast on Jan 20 that the Chinese economy would expand by 6.8 percent in 2015, 0.3 percentage points lower than its previous prediction.

Li said that friends at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January also expressed worries about the country's slowdown.

However, Li said that consideration should be given to the large size of China's economy. If a $10 trillion economy grows by only 7 percent, the increase will still exceed the figure of a $9 trillion economy growing at 7.4 percent, he said.

Li thanked the non-Communist parties at the seminar for their advice and support of the government. "This year, we will still stand together, whether in wind or rain," he said.

Wan Gang, chairman of the Central Committee of the China Zhi Gong Party, said government capital should play a guiding role in attracting more private capital to emerging industries.

China is setting up a 40 billion yuan ($6.4 billion) investment fund to support startups in emerging industries and to nurture new growth engines.

Wang Qinmin, president of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, called for entrepreneurs to be given more encouragement to promote healthy growth in the private sector.