Measures coming to reduce corporate operating costs: Premier

China will introduce more targeted and effective measures to further reduce corporate operating costs and the country will achieve its development goals for this year, as well as the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday.

It is essential to keep the Chinese economy stable, which will contribute to the recovery and development of the world economy, Li said at a news conference in Beijing.

The measures to reduce corporate operating costs include pension payment relief for enterprises, interest rate reduction by State-owned commercial banks and price reduction in natural monopoly industries. The monetary scale of these measures is expected to be twice the amount of the increased central government budget deficit and the central government special bond for COVID-19 control and prevention, which is worth about 2 trillion yuan ($280 billion), according to Li.

The premier said that China has still reserved policies in fiscal, financial and social security arenas and the country is in a strong position to quickly introduce new measures to keep its economic development on a steady course.

Li also emphasized the supportive policies will be targeted and well-focused, and the government will not flood the economy with excessive liquidity.

China is capable of achieving positive growth this year if the government achieves the goal of safeguarding priorities in six key areas, including employment, people's basic livelihoods and the operation of market entities, Li said.