国内英语资讯:President Xi urges solid implementation of reforms in 2017

BEIJING, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday called for more efforts to carry out reforms in the coming year, stressing policy coordination and responsibility.

China will push forward reform measures in key areas, which are state-owned enterprises (SOEs), taxation, finance, land, urbanization, social security, ecological progress and opening up, according to a meeting of the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform, chaired by Xi.

The year 2017 will be crucial to deepening reforms, Xi said when addressing the conference.

Friday marks the third anniversary of birth of the leading group, which has convened a total of 31 meetings since its establishment, with hundreds of measures designed and released to address issues such as urbanization, poverty alleviation, innovation and the market's role in resource allocation.

After more than three years of efforts, China has basically built the main framework of reforms, by rolling out a series of landmark reform plans, making breakthroughs in some key areas, and innovating in theories, mechanisms and practice, Xi said.

The meeting reviewed reform progress this year and mapped out work priorities in 2017.

The leading group held 12 meetings and deliberated on 146 major documents this year. Thanks to the top-down planning, hundreds of reform tasks have been basically completed.

A slew of guidelines and plans were passed during the meeting.

China should accelerate developing its own philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics under the guidance of Marxism, and improve the Communist Party of China (CPC) leadership in the area.

Official regulation on medicine and medical equipment will be strengthened, with stricter approval systems for new drugs, improved supervision over production safety and quality, and better medical service price management.

The government will improve its administrative law enforcement, by disclosing information without delay, promoting full-time recording, and guaranteeing legitimacy.

Central SOEs will initiate pilot schemes on powers and checks of the board of directors to improve corporate governance.

Policymakers also discussed government budget management reforms, improvement in mining rights transfer to safeguard national interests, and the role of grassroots CPC organizations in community governance in rural and urban areas.

The meeting was also attended by Li Keqiang, Liu Yunshan and Zhang Gaoli, members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy heads of the group.

The most recent emphasis on reform came three years after the key Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in 2016, which featured a comprehensive reform package covering 15 areas and 60 tasks.

China aims to achieve "decisive results" in major reform areas by 2020.