Chinese Premier vows to deepen reforms

BEIJING - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday that China will continue to deepen reforms by streamlining administration, delegating powers, improving regulation and providing better services.

"This will trigger market vitality and ingenuity, and will create a level playing field for all market players," said Li when holding discussions with foreign experts working in China at the Great Hall of the People.

Li extended New Year greetings to foreign experts and their families, as well as sincere thanks to friends from other countries that have given support to China's reform, opening-up and modernization drive.

During the meeting, Li listened advices from four experts on issues concerning China's economic competitiveness, the "Made in China 2025" strategy, the training of applied talents, China's industrial transformation, and how the world could hear more of the China story.

The four experts are Christopher Pissarides, holder of the Nobel Prize in Economics and professor at the London School of Economics, Falk Hoehn, German expert on industrial design and guest professor at Hefei University, Jongseong Lim, Canadian expert from China's 1000 Talent Plan for High-Level Foreign Experts and deputy head of the Geely Automobile Research Institute, and John Lydon, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and US expert with China Daily.

Li also responded to questions raised by Daniel Dudek, US expert on environment protection, and Tatsuhito Tokuchi, a Japanese financial expert, about the Chinese economy and the yuan exchange rate.

Li said that last year, despite a sluggish world economy and prominent structural problems facing the domestic economy, China's GDP realized medium-high growth on the basis of $10 trillion.

New economic sectors and new business models have been growing fast, he said, noting the Chinese economy is growing in a more balanced fashion, and is being driven more and more by domestic demand, innovation, as well as the service sector and the green economy.

Although we are facing some difficulties and challenges, China's new type of industrialization, IT application, urbanization and agricultural modernization will unleash enormous development potential and give impetus to drive world economic growth, he said.

He said China is pushing ahead with structural reform, especially reform on the supply side.

"It is in the process of implementing the strategy to develop through innovation and of encouraging mass enterpreneurship and innovation," he said.

Efforts are being stepped up to foster new development drivers while traditional drivers are being upgraded and improved, he said.

Li said China's basic state policy of opening up will remain unchanged.

"China will bring in more talents in an all-round way, and will provide them with services that are more convenient and up to international standards," he said.

Intellectual property will be better protected according to law, he said, adding that pooling together collective wisdom and strength would help the Chinese economy move away from over-dependence on natural resources and become increasingly driven by human resources and talents.

Li also hoped that foreign experts working in China will continue to share their ideas and insights with China for the benefit of common development of the Chinese economy and the global economy.