China's economic planner vows more efforts to reform

BEIJING — China's economic planner has pledged more efforts to push forward structural reforms in 2017 as the world's second-largest economy is still in the middle of overall rebalancing.

Supply-side structural reform remains high on this year's work agenda, said a statement released Thursday after a two-day meeting of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Solid and effective measures will be rolled out to cut excessive capacity, reduce the number of unsold homes, de-leverage, bring down business burdens, and improve weak areas.

The NDRC said it aims for new breakthroughs in economic restructuring.

While the economy has shown signs of stabilizing in the first quarter, structural problems remain and uncertainties linger, which requires unwavering and continued efforts to deepen reforms, according to the statement.

Other key areas were also highlighted, including cutting red tape, reforms in taxation and finance, the mixed ownership of State-owned firms, opening up in more sectors, and environmental protection.