Premier Li Keqiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, chaired a meeting on provincial economies and people's livelihood in East China's Jiangxi province on Nov 14.
Leaders of Jiangxi, Jilin, and Zhejiang provinces, and Shanghai and Chongqing municipalities shared their opinions and future plans.
Premier Li said China's economy maintained stable growth amid complicated situations, a remarkable achievement in the current world economy.
While reaffirming confidence, Premier Li said, there are still growing challenges at home and abroad. Disparities are growing among different regions, particularly with the sharp decline of industrial and inveterate indicators, slow development and mounting pressure in fiscal balance and people's livelihood.
Facing challenges, more efforts should be made to stabilize employment, finance, trade, and investment, to keep the economy running in a reasonable range, Premier Li said.
It is an important foundation to achieve this year's main tasks and promote high-quality development, he added.
Premier Li said that serious measures should be taken to implement policies. All local governments and departments must have a greater sense of urgency and take active initiatives.
"We should make a stand against negligence and inertia, and develop innovative thinking, and national policies should be properly utilized to solve challenging issues in development," Premier Li said.
According to the Premier, local governments should speed up projects on weak links with advanced approval of the special local government debt amount and the lowered capital fund ratio for some infrastructure projects.
The Premier also asked them to promote effective investment and industrial upgrades, and optimize major project planning and early-stage preparations.
All departments concerned should focus on expectations of enterprises and different regions, with more targeted measures for development, he said.
Premier Li said local governments should put pressure on themselves to promote greater breakthroughs in administration streamlining, and further release the development potential brought by institutional innovation.
He also called for the construction of a market-oriented, law-based and international business environment based on local conditions.
"We must enhance the support of new driving forces to the economy, further unleash the huge market potential, and encourage developing advanced manufacturing and the emerging service industry," he said.
Also, enterprises should be encouraged to make greater efforts to improve supply and launch new products and services to expand their development space, said the Premier.
Premier Li called for efforts to ensure basic livelihood of the people and enable economic development and improvement in people's lives.
Facing increasing economic downward pressure, employment should be the priority, said the Premier.
He encouraged helping graduates and rural migrant workers find jobs, and offering instruction and expanding channels for returning rural workers to start businesses or find employment.
The government should tighten the budget, he said, and the priority in financial spending should be given to people's basic livelihood. At the same time, pensions should be paid on time and in full, and people in difficulties should receive basic guarantees, Premier Li said.
As the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival are getting closer, intensified efforts should be made to deal with wages in arrears for migrant workers, he added.
He asked local governments to ensure the supply of daily necessities and keep prices stable, as well as make sure that local people enjoy a warm winter.
The Premier also stressed projects concerning people's livelihood, and solid input in elderly care, day care and healthcare.
State Councilor and Secretary-General of the State Council Xiao Jie also attended the meeting.
