Presidency of People Republic of China : Premier Li solicits advice from experts for government work report

Premier Li Keqiang held a symposium on Jan 13 to seek more suggestions from experts and business leaders on the draft government work report for 2017.

Over the past year, China's economy has remained stable, reaching a relatively high rate of employment, transforming driving forces and upgrading economic structures, making progress in improving people's livelihoods, and playing a more important role in driving the global economy, Premier Li said.

However, facing more economic and political challenges and uncertainty this year at home and abroad, Premier Li said it was important to maintain confidence, take precautions and grasp opportunities to keep China's economy stable with enhanced quality and efficiency.

Premier Li Keqiang holds a symposium on Jan 13 to seek more suggestions from experts and business leaders on the draft government work report for 2017. [Photo/China News Service]

At the symposium, Chinese Academy of Social Science professor Gao Peiyong called for more efforts to deepen reforms on finance and tax such as reducing taxes and fees.

Renmin University of China professor Zeng Xiangquan suggested that targeted measures should be rolled out to promote employment according to different regions, industries and groups.

Tsinghua University professor Zhu Min said the finance sector should prevent and control risks to better serve the real economy.

China Railway Rolling Stock Corp general manager Liu Hualong told the gathering that the government should make continuous efforts to create a favorable environment for growth of the real economy, with major enterprises.

Zhao Shuanglian, chairman of COFCO Corp, China's leading foodstuffs import and export group, said efforts should be made to strengthen supply-side structural reform in agriculture to improve agricultural comprehensive production capacity.