China sets economic reform priorities for 2015

In terms of budget and taxation, the central government plans to step up the establishment of a normative mechanism for local authorities to raise funds and a system to assess risks in their debts and sound early warnings.

It also pledged to continue to implement taxation reform, expanding value-added tax to the construction, property and finance sectors and adjusting resource tax, personal income tax and environmental protection tax.

In the financial sector, China will speed up the development of private banks and small financial institutions, and issue a guideline to ensure healthy development of Internet finance.

The country will also open up its financial sector and build a financial mechanism that better benefits the real economy, according to the statement.

The state council said the government will further liberalize interest rates, make the yuan more flexible against other currencies and promote the use of renminbi in cross-border settlement.

Reforms on urbanization, widening funding channels for city construction, improving the current rigid household registration system, and accelerating reforms on rural land to boost agriculture were all also identified as priorities.

The government promised more opening up measures, including transforming trade structures, better management of foreign investment, encouraging industrial capacity cooperation, replicating successful free trade zones elsewhere and promoting the Belt and Road Initiative.

In addition, China will make more effort to protect the environment through energy conservation, emission cuts and stricter regulation, the statement said.