The executive meeting of the State Council held on Sept 5 deployed measures to tackle weaknesses in key areas and weak links, including poverty alleviation and infrastructure work, in an effort to promote development upgrades and improve people’s livelihood.

“Enhanced measures against weak links in key areas concern current economic stability and quality and profits of the supply system in the long run,” said Zhang Liqun, an expert from the Development Research Center of the State Council.

Statistics show that private investment continued to decline in the first seven months of 2016 but with a slowing drop curve. Planned investment in new domestic projects has increased 24 percent year on year.

According to Zhang, positive factors are accumulating, with stabilized private investment, bouncing-back manufacturing investment and rising PPI. “The State Council’s measures will enhance infrastructure investment and mobilize private investment to anchor current growth,” he said.

The executive meeting put forward measures to strengthen weak links, including accelerating major projects in the 13th Five-Year Plan, cutting excessive and backward production capacity, mobilizing social capital, innovating financing, expanding foreign capital usage, and establishing a reward and punishment mechanism.

Several policies to protect IPRs and give equal treatment to foreign investment are already in place.

More reform and opening up will unleash vitality of market players, and is conducive to new economic structure and momentums, benefiting people’s livelihood. “Supply-side reform must rely on reform and opening up,” said Chi Fulin, head of the China Institute for Reform and Development.