China to unleash new growth vitality for 'new normal'

BEIJING - China will work to unleash new growth vitality for its economy, which is under increasing downward pressure, Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli said on Sunday.

"New normal" calls for new thinking and new measures, Zhang said during the opening ceremony of the ongoing China Development Forum. He called for more efforts to actively adjust to and lead the "new normal".

China will deepen reform to unleash, to the greatest extent, new growth vitality from entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity, while speeding up the formation of new engines for maintaining a medium-high level of growth rate and moving toward a medium-high level of development, he said.

The vice premier also highlighted the role of opening up to the outside world, saying it is a major engine for achieving continuous prosperity of the Chinese economy and also an inevitable requirement for China and the world to share development opportunities.

China will explore new moves to make its economy more open and create a stable, fair, transparent and predictable business environment, he said.

China's proposals to build the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, known as the "Belt and Road" initiatives, and set up the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund have been met with positive responses from a number of countries, he said.

All countries are welcome to join in the building of the Belt and the Road so as to achieve mutually beneficial cooperation and common development, Zhang said.

For macroeconomic policies, Zhang said, as the downward pressure on China's economy has somewhat increased, China will continue to implement proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy while putting more focus on targeted regulation.