The State Council executive meeting on June 17 presided over by Premier Li Keqiang said the government will continue to effectively deal with the downward pressure on the economy.

The meeting decided to shore up effective investment, mainly in the infrastructure sector where raw materials are at relatively low prices, to arrest the economic slowdown.

The central government will inject funds to upgrade power grids in rural areas, grain storage facilities and wastewater treatment facilities as well the relocation or renovation of traditional industrial and mining areas.

The meeting pledged to speed up construction of seven major projects, including water conservancy, and railways in the less-developed central and western regions.

Efforts will also be made to map out new industries such as modern logistics and urban rail transport.

The meeting pledged to guide financial organizations to accelerate approval of loans to key and public-private partnership projects.

The meeting also said the government will speed up efforts to renovate shantytowns and dilapidated houses as well as upgrade infrastructure around them.

It approved a three-year plan to renovate 18 million apartments or houses in urban shantytowns and 10.6 million dilapidated houses in rural areas, as well as build infrastructure and provide utilities for these dwellings, such as public transport, running water, gas, heat and telecommunications.

The meeting said the authorities at city or county level can outsource renovation projects to private parties; and provincial authorities can issue bonds if they did not have sufficient funds.

The meeting also said the government will make sure that authorities around the country issue a single certificate to newly registered companies by the end of the year. Authorities should make it more convenient for companies to register, and set up an online system to share information among different departments to prevent duplication of applications or submission of the same documents.

The meeting asked the government to introduce technologies such as big data to help the streamlining of administrative approval procedures. The measures include:

* Speeding up the online disclosure of all the specific steps of administrative approval procedures.

* Enhancing the online disclosure of enterprise information, such as administrative approvals or penalties, and their credit information.

* Introducing big data technology to help environmental protection and food and drug safety authorities to detect illegal behavior more efficiently.