Chinese premier confident in economic growth

BEIJING, July 7 -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Monday that China can keep its economic growth within a reasonable margin.

During a joint press briefing following his talks with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Li said that in the second quarter of this year, China's economic conditions had improved from the first quarter. But he warned against the risks of a slowdown, saying the country cannot be complacent on this issue.

Li outlined areas that the Chinese government will focus on to maintain a stable economic growth.

China will continue to stimulate the vigor of the market, he said, adding it will increase the efficiency of supply, especially in provision of financing for small businesses and reducing red tape.

In the coming months, China will continue to strengthen preemptive fine tuning of its economic policy and carry out "targeted controls," according to the premier.

"We have the conditions and capability to continue to keep the Chinese economy running within a reasonable margin and achieve the goal of economic growth for the whole year," Li said.

He noted that since the beginning of this year, world economic recovery has endured a complex situation with both good news and bad news arising, and that "China's economy is also faced with the pressure of slowing down."

However, he said the Chinese government refrained from adopting a full-scale stimulative policy, but instead worked on the basis of maintaining growth within a reasonable margin.

The government has put special efforts in pushing forward reform and opening up to the outside world, overhauling the government approval system, improving business registration procedures and relaxing controls on market entrance, he said.

By implementing policies to stabilize growth, promote reform, readjust the economic structure and improve people's livelihood, China has maintained a stable growth in the economy, according to Li.

In the first quarter, China's GDP growth stood at 7.4 percent, while employment and inflation indices were in a healthy range.