Full Text: Premier Li Keqiang Meets the Press (6)

China Business News: Mr. Premier, you have stressed the importance of mass entrepreneurship and innovation on many occasions, and see it as a new engine fueling China's economic growth. But some people say that it is a personal decision to start a business and it is a market behavior. So why should the government spend so much time and energy on this?

Li Keqiang: I appreciate your good intention of saving the government time and energy, but this is something the government must do. Mass entrepreneurship and innovation is in itself a reform endeavor. This reform is inspired by the experience we have drawn from the past. Over the past more than 30 years, it is the introduction of household contract responsibility system that has brought into full play the initiative of the vast number of Chinese farmers. It is because our people could move freely across provinces and cities that several hundred million farmers have migrated into cities to find jobs. This has created the miracle of China's economic development.

Last year when the government launched the reform of the business system to streamline its administration, I recall that I paid a visit to one of the local venues for business registration where I talked with a woman who has retired. As you may know, the government has replaced the paid-in capital registration requirement with subscribed capital registration. This has boosted our people's enthusiasm to start their own businesses. This woman is one of them. She told me that she wanted to register a wedding service company because she was well-versed in the local traditional wedding customs. She told me that some couples wanted to have a traditional wedding, so she believed that though she had not attended university, she had a competitive edge in providing such services. I also visited some ventures cafes and makerspaces where I see that the young people there all have brilliant ideas. When their ideas are put into practice and produce actual products, they are boosting market demand. I believe there are a large number of such people with outstanding talent in China. We must lift all the restrictions so that they can put their talent to best use.

To boost market vitality, the government must eliminate road blocks and pave the way for people to tap their entrepreneurship. The government plans to do more in this regard this year. Market access will be further relaxed. Business license and all the required certificates will be integrated into one. It would no longer take one so much trouble to register a business in some areas of the services sector. The government also needs to foster more favorable conditions for business start-up. There needs to be low-rent makerspaces to add wings to the entrepreneurship of our people. The government will also fully leverage the national guidance fund to encourage more seed capital to pitch in. Taxes and fees will be further reduced to ensure that all businesses get to forge ahead with a light pack.

A country could achieve prosperity when its people's initiative is brought into full play. There will be much economic vitality when there are ample business opportunities and choices for consumers. By encouraging mass entrepreneurship and innovation, we want to help more people become better off and enable more to achieve their full potential in life. This will also help us adjust the income distribution structure and promote social fairness. In particular, we want to ensure that young people, especially children from poor families, will have equal access to opportunities for upward mobility.