“Say what you want. That’s all right. There’re no taboos,” Premier Li Keqiang told the experts and entrepreneurs at a symposium on the economy on Nov 8, encouraging them to speak freely.

At the start of the symposium, Premier Li made it clear that real advice was needed to analyze the economic situation, so everyone was welcome to speak freely about their opinions.

Huang Yiping, vice-president of the National School of Development at Peking University, said that to resist the downward pressure, China should rely on private enterprises. But the current business environment is not so favorable for them, so he suggested more policy support for private enterprises to really achieve fair competition.

He Dexu, president of the National Academy of Economic Strategy under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, suggested that positive financial policies should be carried on while enhancing effectiveness. More efforts should be made in tax and fee cuts to reduce costs for the real economy.

Ex-chief economist of the Asian Development Bank Wei Shangjin also gave advice on tax and fee reductions. Zhao Weiguo, chairman of Tsinghua Unigroup, made suggestions on technological innovation.

“This is my opinion, please pardon me if it’s not appropriate,” said Li Shuirong, chairman of Zhejiang Rongsheng Group, after talking about the difficulties he encountered in investing in a private petrochemical base.

“You don’t have to be nervous. We are here discussing issues to make our country better,” Premier Li said. “The more concerns you raise, the happier we will be.”

Guo Sheng, CEO of Zhaopin.com, said the prosperity index of the job market in the third quarter rose to 1.97, higher than in the second quarter, according to research jointly released by Renmin University of China and Zhaopin.com. Premier Li encouraged them to enhance communication with the National Bureau of Statistics to provide more references to the government.

During the 2 1/2-hour symposium, the experts and entrepreneurs spoke for more than two hours. At the end of the meeting, the Premier extended his gratitude for their opinions and advice, saying they were very insightful about the government’s work.

After the meeting, one of the attendees told the media that he spoke honestly. “All are true feelings in our industry.”

Huang Yiping said everyone at the meeting spoke freely and honestly. “Our suggestions, especially criticism, received the Premier’s attention and responses, so I think this symposium was quite good.”