China to focus more on improving people's livelihood in new era, official says

China will take greater efforts to increase the well-being of its people and enable the fruits of reform and development to better benefit the public, Xu Lin, head of the State Council Information Office, said in a speech at an international symposium on "China and the World in the New Era" on Monday.

Xu said the international community is paying high attention to China as the country grows stronger with great development and the world wonders how China will get along with the world.

Over the past seven decades since the founding of the People's Republic of China, China's economic strength has grown significantly, people's living standards have greatly improved and China's international status and influence have greatly enhanced, he said.

China has become the world's second-largest economy from a country lagging behind in just a few decades and such progress should be attributed to the hard-working Chinese people, he said.

In the meanwhile, Xu said China is still the world's largest developing country with the contradiction between meeting the people's ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development.

There is still a long way to go to deliver a well-to-do life to the 1.3 billion Chinese people, he said, adding that China will take more measures to guarantee and improve people's livelihood.

China in the new era will further develop its economy, improve democracy, advance science and education, enrich culture, foster social harmony and upgrade the texture of life for the people, he said.