China's economy operating within appropriate range: Premier

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers a speech at a business summit in Toulouse, southern France, July 2, 2015.[Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - The Chinese economy is operating within an appropriate range and China continues to lead the world in terms of growth, said Premier Li Keqiang.

On the afternoon of August 28, Premier Li Keqiang chaired a State Council special meeting in Zhongnanhai to discuss developments in global economic and financial field and their implications for China and policy responses.

Attending the meeting were leading officials of the State Council and ministers in charge of related economic and financial departments. They discussed the current situation and raised suggestions for the next step of work. After attentively listening to the discussions, Premier Li shared his observations.

He said that recent fluctuations on the international market have an impact on China, yet the Chinese economy is still operating within an appropriate range and China continues to lead the world in terms of growth.

Li said, recent world market volatility has added new uncertainties to global economic recovery. The implications are growing for China's financial market as well as imports and exports, adding new pressure on the Chinese economy.

Li said, in the context of complex and changing situations abroad and deep-rooted problems at home, we pressed ahead with progress while ensuring stability with sustained efforts for structural reforms and targeted macro-regulation measures. These included, among others, cuts in the required reserve ratio, interest rates, taxes and fees and measures aimed at stabilizing the market, which are already paying off.

Positive factors enabled by structural adjustments are topping up momentum for growth. The Chinese economy is operating within an appropriate range and China continues to lead the world in terms of growth. China has great potential for further development and is well capable of effectively managing risks and keeping them under control. This means China will continue to keep the initiative in hand even at times of complexity, he said.

Li said that a host of new measures of reform and development are adopted to add new impetus to economic development and stabilize market expectations.

On economic work in the coming months, Li said, we should not lose sight of the steady, positive trend and should stand firm in our conviction. At the same time, we should face challenges head on, be well-prepared and adaptive for uncertainties, and do whatever we can to maximize the positive factors and defuse the negative ones. The key is delivering results from decisions already made, with top priority given to development. We should fully mobilize governments at both the central and local levels while the proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy will stay in place.

While conducting range-based macro-regulation, we must also be sensitive to subtle developments and be adaptive in policy implementation. To stabilize market expectations, make good policy preparations and make sure main targets for the year's economic and social development are achieved, we will enact more targeted and responsive macro-regulation to offset downward economic pressure, more robust reform and innovation efforts to energize the market, and more effective delivery to secure the positive momentum for growth, he said.

Li said, now that the traditional drivers for growth are not as strong, it is important to come up with new measures to bolster reform and opening up. It is necessary to provide more public goods and services, and encourage mass entrepreneurship and innovation to boost the growth momentum.