Li: Nation on track to meet economic targets

China will be able to attain its major targets for economic growth this year, and the government is considering a new portfolio of tax cuts and fee reductions on a phased basis to help manufacturers, smaller firms and self-employed individuals, Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday.

Speaking at a symposium in Beijing with economists and business leaders on the performance of the economy, Li pledged continuous policy measures, including extra tax deductions from the research and development costs of businesses, to help enterprises overcome their difficulties and aid their innovation and upgrading.

The government had already reached its target of creating at least 11 million urban jobs this year, he said.

The premier noted that China's economy currently faces new downside pressure as well as multiple challenges in maintaining steady operations on the basis of a high growth base.

He called for unrelenting epidemic prevention and containment measures and heightened steps to protect jobs, public wellbeing and market players.

It is important to make the macro policies more forward-looking and targeted, move forward with reform and opening-up, step up cross-cyclical adjustment, and maintain major economic indicators within the proper range and ensure a stable job market, Li said.

He said China's macro policies will continue to center on the nation's over 150 million market players, which are the source of China's economic resilience and potential and which support the fundamentals of the job market.

Li highlighted the need to ensure the full implementation of various support policies for coal-powered plants to ensure a steady supply of electricity, adding that targeted measures must be adopted to alleviate the impact of the rise in bulk commodity prices on smaller firms.

The government will continue to offer a level playing field for businesses of various types of ownership to enable them to create more jobs and help workers increase their incomes, he said.

It is important to maintain the intensity of government investment and stimulate the investment enthusiasm of private capital with reforms, he added.

Li reiterated the need to keep the renminbi exchange rate generally stable at an adaptive, balanced level, saying that the nation will continue to support new models of foreign trade including cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehousing.

At the symposium, Li held exchanges with economists Wen Bin and He Jun, as well as executives from China Datang Co Ltd, one of China's major power generation companies, Wuxi Yimian Textile Group Co Ltd and Edge Medical Robotics Co Ltd, a designer and producer of high-end medical products.