The second plenary meeting of the fourth session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 10, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING -- Chinese political advisors put their heads together on Thursday to offer prescriptions for the country's slowing economy, appealing for deepened reform and stricter financial oversight.

Fifteen members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) addressed a plenary meeting at the Great Hall of the People.

Renowned economist Li Yining told fellow advisors that China has made supply-side structural reform a new economic strategy.

China's rapid growth in the past three decades was fueled by capital investment, exports and consumption -- usually thought of as being on the demand side. However, supply-side reform aims to increase the supply of goods and services by stimulating business through tax cuts, entrepreneurship and innovation.

While stimulation on the demand side tends to be short-lived, Chinese leaders hope supply-side reform can generate sustainable and quality growth.

Li highlighted an overhaul of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) as a top priority for supply-side structural reform.

He said the SOE overhaul has two dimensions. One is that authorities in charge of state assets should only be responsible for maintaining and increasing the value of state assets, and allocating well such assets. The other is that SOEs should be dealt with differently on the basis of industries they belong to.

He also called for stricter procedures in carrying out employee stock ownership plans.

Li Daokui, an economics professor with Tsinghua University, cautioned that China's economic operation and upgrade have been hindered by stock market plunges and expectations on a falling yuan.

China should integrate its financial regulators responsible for banking, securities, insurance and trust together to form a unified supervising body at a proper time so as to ward off systemic risks, Li said.

"The current supervision system exposed its defects when the government was trying to tame market volatility last year," Li said.