New boosters for new normal

Premier Li Keqiang presents the report on the work of the government on the thrid day of the two sessions. Wu Zhiyi / China Daily

The changed emphases contained in the Government Work Report presented by Premier Li Keqiang to the ongoing session of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, on Thursday, indicate that the economy still has the potential to be in good shape, says a People's Daily article.

Despite a lowered growth target, a series of measures this year, in the context of the new normal, mean the second-largest economy can gear itself to adapt to its new normal. And it is not just the central government, local governments too have felt the slowing pulse of the economy and are adjusting accordingly.

The change in policy emphasis for the "three major industries" and the "troika" of investment, exports and consumption, as well as the vow to maintain growth at a reasonable speed and bring manufacturing to the middle-and high-end levels, along with the multiple measures promised to help people start their own businesses, demonstrate the government's resolve to adjust the economic structure and upgrade the economic growth drivers. The efforts to increase jobs, improve people's livelihoods and boost public services, as Li promised in the report, will also bolster economic development.

At the same time, efforts to increase urban and rural residents' incomes, the ice-breaking of various important reforms, the advancement of the rule of law as well as the intensifying anti-corruption campaign, will also help build a joint force for national economic development. Continuous efforts to raise the pensions for the retired, expand the use of government fiscal incomes for public projects and raise the proportion of fiscal spending on education to GDP will also help the government win public support and mobilize nationwide resources for further economic development. The government's courage to face up to the difficulties ahead, from no growth in investment and the insufficient capability to deal with serious pollution and frequent work accidents, also manifests its resolve to overcome them.