Education most important priority, Li says

Expert advisers offer suggestions about central government's supporting role in key fields

The slowdown of economic growth and the tightening of government spending will not influence the authorities' efforts to provide better public services this year, but it will force the government to use money wisely and efficiently, Premier Li Keqiang told a group of experts who were invited to make suggestions on a draft Work Report of the central government at a conference in Beijing on Tuesday.

"The government will spend about 70 percent of its budget on affairs related to people's livelihoods, the biggest expenditure on its to-do list," Li said, adding that the government will try its best to guarantee financial support for some key public services, such as education and medical care.