Premier Li Keqiang has called for reform and innovative measures to further promote the healthy development of social investment.

At a working conference on July 18, with the heads of provincial, regional and city governments, Premier Li discussed measures to encourage private investment and problems with the decline of social investment growth.

Premier Li said expanding investment in the middle of China’s industrialization and new-tape urbanization could promote consumption and create jobs, which is an important way to push forward development.

Social investment consists of private investment and mixed-ownership investment. Authorities should grasp opportunities such as industrial upgrading, development of new economy and infrastructure construction to strengthen guidance of social capital investment, while making good use of limited government funds, the Premier said.

He stressed that social capital should be prevented from pouring into industries with over capacity and that cause pollution. Instead, it should be steered towards shoring up weak areas, utilizing structure, supporting mass entrepreneurship and innovation, and improving people’s livelihood.

Premier Li laid out three points in arousing vitality of social investment. Firstly, further promote reform of administrative streamlining, delegating power to lower levels, strengthening supervision and improving service. “We should not only ease market access, simplify administrative process, but also eliminate discrimination of ownership, remove local protectionism, and sweep away all kinds of obstacles hindering investment, in order to reduce institutional cost and create a better environment for investment,” the Premier said.

Secondly, put in place policies of cutting taxes and fees, and service real economy, especially small and medium-sized enterprises by innovative finance. Difficulties among enterprises in financing should be solved, and legal systems should be strengthened, the Premier said, adding that governments’ payment of debts should be stepped up to protect lawful interests and rights of enterprises.

Thirdly, innovate investment methods by promoting pricing reform and improving the further application of Public-Private Partnership (PPP). Proactive fiscal policy should play a constructive role in attracting more private investment into infrastructure building and social service sectors such as education, health care and old-age care. Through innovative mechanisms, private investment is encouraged in all major projects laid out by the 13th Five-Year Plan, and its legal rights should be protected.

All regions and departments should ensure the implementation of established policies, and improve the communication mechanism between government and enterprises, so that a new-type of government-business relationship could be built up and market vitality could be injected, the Premier said.

He also added that the government should learn from the past and improve incentive and correcting systems to further promote the reforms.

Vice-premiers Liu Yandong, Ma Kai, and State Councilors Yang Jing and Wang Yong also attended the conference.