{"id":9241,"date":"2015-03-15T23:39:05","date_gmt":"2015-03-15T23:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/151.106.38.4\/2015\/03\/15\/chinas-legislature-endorses-govt-plan-closes-session\/"},"modified":"2015-03-15T23:39:05","modified_gmt":"2015-03-15T23:39:05","slug":"chinas-legislature-endorses-govt-plan-closes-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/2015\/03\/15\/chinas-legislature-endorses-govt-plan-closes-session\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s legislature endorses govt plan, closes session"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img src=\/old_site\/><\/p>\n<div>Premier Li Keqiang expressed determination on Sunday to press ahead with reforms meant to reduce the Chinese government\u2019s role in the economy in hopes of spurring growth despite what he acknowledged would be pain for \u201cvested interests\u201d that benefit from regulation.<\/div>\n<div>\u201cThis is not nail-clipping. This is like taking a knife to one\u2019s own flesh,\u201d Li said at a news conference after the close of China\u2019s annual legislature in Beijing. \u201cBut however painful it might be, we are determined to keep going until our job is done.\u201d During his only news conference of the year, the premier repeated pledges to reduce requirements for government approval of new businesses. He said the number of private businesses being set up has doubled following efforts already underway simplify the process of registering a new enterprise.<\/div>\n<div>Li spoke after Sunday morning\u2019s close of the 11-day session of the ceremonial National People\u2019s Congress. The legislature does little or no lawmaking work but serves as a platform for the ruling Communist Party to highlight proposed reforms and set a tone for the year\u2019s government work.<\/div>\n<div>At this year\u2019s meeting, the government lowered China\u2019s official economic growth to 7 per cent from last year\u2019s 7.5 per cent and promised to maintain employment levels, fight corruption and curb pollution.<\/div>\n<div>Li acknowledged that reforms face opposition from politically influential state companies that might face tougher competition and officials who might see their own status reduced.<\/div>\n<div>\u201cDuring the course of reform, vested interests will be upset because the government is cutting its own powers,\u201d he said, adding that China as a whole will benefit. \u201cThis reform, by reducing powers held in the hands of government, has actually helped us to tackle the downward pressure on economic growth,\u201d Li said.<\/div>\n<div>The address by Li, 59, afforded him a rare opportunity to emerge from the shadow of the president and Communist Party leader, Xi Jinping, who has established himself as the most powerful Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping author of China\u2019s modernization drive in the 1980s. Although the premier has traditionally overseen the economy and government administration, Xi has absorbed a growing number of portfolios over his first two years in office that have left Li a much diminished figure. Xi has placed himself in charge of policy-making panels on security, the Internet and the economy that do not answer to the NPC, making the legislature less relevant.<\/div>\n<div>Li warned that meeting the lower official growth target will not be easy. He said the ruling party is ready to change its macroeconomic strategies if the rate of new job creation dips too low. \u201cThere is considerable downward pressure on China\u2019s growth and we still face multiple challenges,\u201d the premier said. \u201cWhen it comes to China\u2019s economy, we must meet both ends of maintaining steady growth and making structural adjustments.\u201d<\/div>\n<div>Also in Li\u2019s work report this year were some targets for battling pollution, a continued emphasis on fighting corruption and a pledge to find jobs for the 7.49 million university students who will graduate this year. \u201cEnforcement of environmental laws should not be a cotton swab but a killer mace,\u201d Li said, vowing to hold polluting factories liable for excessive emissions while also urging members of China\u2019s society to take part in cleaning up the environment.<\/div>\n<div>\u201cIt\u2019s a project in which everyone in the society should take responsibility,\u201d Li said. \u201cIf you cannot change the environment you are in, you can modify your behaviours.\u201d Li\u2019s comments on the environment were in response to a question by a reporter who cited a recent documentary, \u201cUnder the Dome,\u201d by a former Chinese TV journalist who documented China\u2019s air woes.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div>It drew more than 200 million views in China before being blocked by censors.<\/div>\n<div>During the annual session that closed on Sunday morning, the congress approved a single piece of legislation in the form of amendments intended to modernize and update China\u2019s legislative law that acts as a sort of mini-constitution governing how laws are enacted.<\/div>\n<div>While most of the congress\u2019 legislative business is conducted by its 150-member Standing Committee, the annual full assembly plays a key role in communicating government priorities to the grassroots and ostensibly is aimed at hearing the concerns of legislators who, though not directly elected, are supposed to represent the interests of Chinese citizens.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Premier Li Keqiang expressed determination on Sunday to press ahead with reforms meant to reduce the Chinese government\u2019s role in the economy in hopes of spurring growth despite what he acknowledged would be pain for \u201cvested interests\u201d that benefit from regulation. \u201cThis is not nail-clipping. This is like taking a knife to one\u2019s own flesh,\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9241\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}