Top leaders join panel discussion with lawmakers

Vice Premier Li Keqiang (C) joins lawmakers in a panel discussion with deputies from Northeast China's Jilin province during the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, March 10, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - Vice Premier Li Keqiang and other senior Chinese leaders on Sunday joined lawmakers in panel discussions during the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature.

In a panel discussion with deputies from northeast China's Jilin Province, Li called for the resolve to transform government functions, after a State Council institutional reform plan was submitted on Sunday for review by lawmakers.

The government of all levels should overcome difficulties and improve their functions to better serve enterprises, the society and the people, Li said.

He urged Jilin, an industrial base and a major agricultural province, to make breakthroughs in science and technology advancement to boost agricultural production and energy development.

Joining lawmakers from northwest China's Gansu Province, Yu Zhengsheng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said the province should explore a development pattern which fits its own situation and particularly focuses on improving infrastructure and the quality of human resources.

Liu Yunshan, another Standing Committee member, told lawmakers from north China's Hebei Province that leading officials and Party cadres should take the lead in facing challenge and tackling difficult problems.

In the panel discussion with deputies from Jiangxi Province, Vice Premier Wang Qishan stressed the need to reform the administrative system and the government with more attentions to service delivery.

Zhang Gaoli, also a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the panel discussion with deputies from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

He emphasized the importance of reform and opening-up and called for a balance among reform, development and stability.