Full Text: Premier Li Keqiang Meets the Press (2)

Bloomberg News: You once said that the government needs to show utmost determination in reforming itself and this process could be a quite painful one. As the Chinese economy comes under increased downward pressure, do you still have as firm determination as before to carry out this reform, and will the Chinese economy continue to slide? Is more pain to come in the future?

Li Keqiang: You asked about the pain caused by the government's self-imposed reform to streamline administration and delegate powers. Let me tell you that the pain is still there. Actually the pain is becoming more acute and is being felt in more places. This is a reform targeted at the government itself. As the government sheds its own powers, vested interests will be upset. This is not nail-clipping, but taking knife to one's own flesh. But however painful it may be, we are determined to keep going until our job is done.

The reform of streamlining administration and delegating government powers helps us get the relationship right between the government and the market. It helps boost market vitality, and puts us in a stronger position to cope with downward pressures on economic growth. Last year, in spite of economic slowdown, we managed to add more urban jobs. Much is attributable to this reform.

We have completed the five-year task of canceling and delegating State Council review items by one third within just two years. With the reform of the business system, on average, up to 10,000 new businesses get registered each day, an increase of 50%. This fully shows that our people represents the largest source of vitality for economic growth, and this reform, by reducing the powers held in the hands of the government, has actually helped us to tackle the downward pressures on economic growth.

We also recognize that some measures have yet to be fully implemented, and new problems have surfaced. A couple of days ago, I came across a proposal during the two sessions which said that although government review items have been slashed, to get one project approved, which needed up to 100 stamps from different government departments, still requires some 50 to 60 steps nowadays. The long procedures have driven up the cost of business start-up and dampened people's enthusiasm for making innovations. That is why the government must step up its efforts to streamline administration and delegate more powers.

New steps will be taken this year and our focus is on the following three areas. First, all non-governmental review items will be canceled. We must ensure that government power will not be exercised when it is not stipulated by the law. There are currently over 1,200 review items at the local governments' level, mandated by the central governmental departments. Our goal is to cut this number by over 200 this year. The government must not secretly hold on to powers that should be delegated, just like releasing the hand brake but still keeping the foot brake on. Second, all provincial-level governments will be required to release their list of powers and list of responsibilities this year. And this task will be assigned to governments in cities and city-level counties next year. We must keep our people well-informed of what powers their governments hold and put government power under public oversight to prevent the abuse of office. And third, we will explore new models for strengthening ongoing and ex-post regulation. We will expand the trials for integrated law-enforcement and we will establish effective models for exercising regulation over such acts as cheating and swindling of marketplace, violating intellectual property rights, making and selling fake and substandard goods, and cases involving food safety.

Just as shoes must suit the feet, our administration must meet people's needs and deliver real benefits.

China National Radio: China's anti-corruption campaign in 2014 brought down several "big tigers" or high-ranking corrupt officials. I would like to know what more steps will be taken to enhance institution building in fighting corruption? You once said that it is also corruption for government officials to be indolent or sloppy in performing their duties. So what steps should we take to resolve the problem involving those "do-nothing" officials?

Li Keqiang: The Communist Party of China and the Chinese government are committed to combating corruption and upholding integrity. Since the 18th National Party Congress, the Central Committee of the CPC with comrade Xi Jinping as General Secretary has been taking strong efforts to ensure that all acts of corruption will be brought to account. In this process, a number of high-ranking corrupt officials have been investigated and dealt with. Our efforts have yielded good results and won people's support.

To enhance institution building in fighting corruption helps us to address both the symptom and root cause of corruption. First, we must run the country in accordance with the law, and ensure that every one is equal before the law and no one is above the law. Second, we need to press ahead with the reform of the administrative system. Just now I mentioned the reform of the government to streamline administration and delegate powers. This is to eliminate room for rent-seeking to remove the breeding ground for corruption, as rent seeking is a common feature of various kinds of corruption. Third, supervision and educational campaigns will be strengthened. We must make sure that government power is exercised in a transparent way and subject to public oversight. All civil servants must enhance their self-discipline and government power can only be used for public good, not personal gains. There must be no irresponsible action or inaction on the part of government officials, and there is no room for incompetence or indolence either. No government official should be half-hearted in doing their jobs. Such officials will be held accountable. (mo