Premier Li Keqiang chaired the fourth plenary meeting of the State Council on Jan 19, and a decision was made to widely circulate the draft of the Government Work Report for suggestions.

The draft report will be delivered to all the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities as well as relevant central government branches.

Li said at the meeting that reporting the work of the government to the third plenary session of the 12th National People’s Congress, is “one of the legal duties of the State Council”.

The report “displays the solemn commitment made by the government to the people” and it is an important avenue for the government to receive oversight from people nationwide, Li said.

“We should make the government’s major policies more scientific and democratic, and collect suggestions from all walks of life in the process of drafting the report,” Li said.

Members of the plenary — including Vice-Premiers Zhang Gaoli, Liu Yandong, Wang Yang and Ma Kai as well as State Councilors Yang Jing, Chang Wanquan, Yang Jiechi, Guo Shengkun and Wang Yong — attended the meeting.

Review of 2014

Reviewing the challenges and achievements of last year, the Premier said China was faced with a complicated and serious situation both domestically and overseas, and the economy faced increasing downward pressure, with multiple difficulties and challenges overlapping.

However, “the major targets and missions of economic and social development have been achieved” and the “economy was running within a reasonable range”, Premier Li said.

He also observed that the quality of economic development witnessed advances, improvement was seen in people’s living standards and major breakthroughs were made in reform and opening up, which has been “hard won”.

New Year missions

The Premier forecast that the Chinese economy will continue to face considerable downward pressure this year, and “difficulties may be even more”.

He said development is the top priority, and a spirit of exploration and innovation is needed.

The Premier suggested that structural reforms give a push to structural adjustment; that there be an increase in public products and services; and entrepreneurship and innovation be encouraged.

The goal is to achieve a further balance between stabilizing growth and adjusting the economic structure, to consistently improve people’s livelihood, and to fulfill all the annual tasks of economic and social development and the missions stipulated in the 12th Five-Year Plan, he said.

First quarter tasks

Meeting targets in the first three months matters to the whole year, and all the regions and departments are expected to work hard and make a good start, he said, and proposed a five-point plan.

* Priority missions that have been rolled out should be implemented in a timely manner. The new economic situation should be monitored closely, and development bottlenecks should be addressed.

* Agricultural production in winter and spring needs tangible and effective management, and enhancements should be made in regard to water conservancy, and spring plowing and planting.

* Good coordination is needed for the shipment of coal, electricity, oil and gas; and the travel rush for Spring Festival be managed well to ensure the convenience of people’s travel and the shipment of important goods.

* The basic well-being of people financially in need requires tangible results, and dealing with the unpaid wages of migrant workers deserves tougher supervision.

* Illegal actions such as violating food safety should be cracked down upon, safety of production should be strengthened, and fire prevention, disaster prevention and relief in forest and grassland areas requires good implementation.