BEIJING — China will step up its efforts in streamlining the government administration and mandating more powers to lower-level governments to further vitalize the market, Premier Li Keqiang said on March 15.

“The reform by reducing the powers held in the hands of the government has helped tackle the downward pressure,” Li said at a news conference after the conclusion of the annual legislative session.

The premier said the pain caused by the government’s self-imposed reform is still there and is becoming more acute.

“This is not nail clipping,” he said. “This is like taking knife to one’s own flesh”.

The central government has promised to delegate the power or cancel the requirement for government review for more items, cancel all nonadministrative review and establish a system for exercising well-regulated management over the government review process.

Li said that streamlining the government administration and mandating more powers to lower-level governments will lead to a proper relationship between the government and the market.