Chinese Vice Premier Urges Growth Mode Transformation

BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Vice Premier Li Keqiang said Sunday China should speed up growth mode transformation and economic restructuring to ensure stable and fast growth.

Li made the remarks in a speech delivered at the China Development Forum 2012, which runs from Saturday to Monday with the presence of over 500 attendants, including government officials, entrepreneurs, experts and representatives from international organizations.

China currently maintains a rapid growth pace and the economy's positive long-term trend has not changed, Li said.

But the country still faces the problem of imbalanced, uncoordinated and unsustainable development at home and uncertainties of a faltering global recovery, he added.

Therefore, the government should work to keep steady and fast growth and stabilize consumer prices, while making breakthroughs in growth mode transformation, reform and opening up, as well as improving people's livelihood during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), he said.

Li called for system and mechanism reforms, saying the government should deepen reforms on taxes, the financial sector, prices and income distribution, while seeking progress in key areas to let the market play a bigger role in resource allocation.

Stressing that reform and opening up are strong forces in achieving the transformation, Li said the government should work to promote balanced trade, introduce more channels for overseas investments, and create a fair competition environment for all market players.

To speed up the transformation, the country should expand its domestic demand by unleashing potentials in the urbanization process, he said.

When pushing forward urbanization, efforts should be made to protect the arable land, ensure food safety and improve rural production and living conditions, Li said.

Furthermore, the government should let businesses play a role in making technological, management and production innovations, so as to promote independent and innovation-led growth, he added.

The forum this year takes a theme of "China and the World: Macro-Stabilization and Economic Restructuring."