China vows to deepen economic system reform to boost growth

BEIJING -- The State Council, China's cabinet, has approved a document which highlighted the key tasks in deepening economic system reform in 2017.

The document was mapped out by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's economic planning agency.

Supply-side reform should be the key task in 2017, and the market should play a bigger role in economic activity, the document said.

The government should streamline administrative procedures and cut red tape to improve efficiency. State-owned enterprise should deepen mixed ownership reform.

Intellectual property rights should be better protected to nurture entrepreneurship. Fiscal reform such as budget and value-added tax reforms should be advanced.

The document also outlined the importance of reform in finance, agriculture, innovation and urbanization.