Li calls for robust efforts to ensure economic growth

Premier Li Keqiang called on Wednesday for concrete efforts to ensure the country's economic growth remains within a reasonable range this year in order to make a good start in the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25).

Li made the remark while presiding over a State Council meeting, in which participants discussed the draft Government Work Report, which will be submitted to the annual session of the 13th National People's Congress in March for deliberation and approval, and a guideline for the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035.

It was decided at the meeting that the two documents will be delivered to the provincial, municipal and autonomous region governments as well as relevant departments under the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council to solicit their opinions and suggestions for further revisions.

It is the State Council's responsibility to report its work to the NPC in line with the Constitution, and that is critically important for the government to improve its efficiency, Li said, adding that public opinions should be extensively sought in the drafting of the Government Work Report and the guideline in order to build up strong consensus and confidence in the country's development.

Through soliciting public opinions, he said, the people's and enterprises' concerns and difficulties should be considered in revising the documents so that the policies and measures to be adopted by the central government will be more targeted and much closer to reality.

Soliciting public opinion is also a better way to demonstrate the scientific and democratic decision-making process and will help energize the vitality of market players and social creativity, Li added.

He reviewed the hard-won achievements China made in the past year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that China's economy achieved positive growth and its annual GDP topped 100 trillion yuan ($15 trillion) for the first time.

In the first year of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Li said priority should be given to implementing the new development philosophy and building the new development paradigm of "dual circulation" at the new development stage and managing the country's own affairs well.

He also underlined the need to deal with the relationship between the market and government, and rely on reform and opening-up in resolving the difficulties arising from development.