Chinese premier stresses gathering wisdom to improve gov't work

BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday urged efforts to "gather wisdom from all sides" to improve the government's work, and specified measures to bolster China's industrial economy and service sectors.

While chairing a State Council executive meeting, Li was briefed on the handling of suggestions from deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) and proposals from members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in 2021.

Last year, offices and departments under the State Council handled 8,666 suggestions from NPC deputies and 5,718 proposals submitted by CPPCC members, accounting for 96.4 percent and 93.4 percent of the total numbers of suggestions and proposals respectively, according to the meeting.

The meeting pointed out that relevant departments adopted more than 4,300 pieces of advice and subsequently introduced over 1,600 policy measures.

With this year's "two sessions" taking place soon, the meeting urged efforts to collect suggestions and proposals from NPC deputies and CPPCC members via various means, including hotlines and network messages, and respond to them to help improve the government's decision-making process and policy implementation.

The industrial and service sectors have played a key supporting role in sustaining the country's economic development and stabilizing employment, the meeting noted.

As the industrial economy is not yet fully recovered and some service sectors face difficulties due to COVID-19, a slew of measures will be rolled out swiftly to provide stronger support, according to the meeting.

Specifically, the country will step up income tax reductions and exemptions in the industrial and service sectors, prolong tax deferrals for small, medium and micro-sized manufacturing firms, and expand the scope of tax and fee cuts.

Financial services for enterprises should be improved, with the central bank providing incentive funds for expanding inclusive loans to small businesses, the meeting said, calling for an increase in mid- and long-term loans to manufacturers and a reduction in the financing costs of businesses.

The meeting also stressed efforts to shore up weak links in the industrial and supply chains of the manufacturing sector, speed up the construction of new infrastructure and ensure the adoption of carbon-cutting technologies within key sectors.

Regarding the catering, retail, tourism and transport sectors, which have faced particular difficulties, the country will increase support for them in the form of tax reductions and deferred premium payments.

While anchoring market expectations amid a complicated domestic and external environment, the country should stabilize the prices of bulk commodities, ensure food and energy security, and increase the coal supply to safeguard power usage in both production and daily life, the meeting stressed.