Chinese premier stresses importance of reform, opening-up to unleash market vitality

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday stressed efforts to push reform and opening up to unleash market vitality and ease downward pressure on the economy.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks while chairing a symposium on the economic situation in Shanghai.

The symposium was attended by several heads of provincial governments.

The country has been hit by multiple challenges this year, including commodity price hikes, a power crunch and severe floods, all of which have been effectively addressed by the government to keep the economy stable, Li noted.

Facing downward pressure on the economy, the country should remain confident while fully evaluating the difficulties and devising effective measures to address them, Li said.

Efforts should be made to implement the cross-cycle adjustment measures at the end of the year and the beginning of next year, and to ensure the supply of energy and electricity, he said.

The country should also push reform and opening up, advance industrialization and urbanization, and continue regular COVID-19 control measures, he added.

Li also underlined the importance of implementing tax and fee cuts to ease the difficulties of market entities, particularly for smaller companies in the market.

While rolling out policies, local governments and relevant departments should avoid campaign-style, overly aggressive, or one-size-fits-all measures, he said.

More efforts should be made to streamline government administration to unleash market vitality, Li said, adding that the country should push high-level opening up, taking the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership as an opportunity to expand international cooperation and better attract foreign investment.