Li expounds on new normal in plain style

Premier Li Keqiang delivered the Government Work Report on Thursday during the annual session of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, in which he detailed the difficulties confronting the country's development, and, more importantly, the government's confidence in the strategies outlined to resolve the problems.

The report drafters, under the direct leadership of Premier Li, adopted a new structure for this year's report. Unlike previous Government Work Reports, which have usually consisted of three sections - namely the achievements made over the past year, the work for the year ahead, and the key tasks to be done - the report this year was made up of six sections: the achievements and problems faced over the past year, the work for this year, reform and opening-up, economic growth, people's livelihoods, and government modernization.

"This was because the last four sections are so crucial that they each deserved to be an independent part of the report," said Ning Jizhe, head of research department of the State Council, China's Cabinet. Ning and the research department have rarely been in the spotlight before; and his appearance in an explanatory news conference Thursday noon, the first of its kind, was a sign of the Chinese government's growing openness and transparency.

As explained by Ning, the writers solicited advice from foreign experts in China - from six countries - and also suggestions from the hundreds of county heads studying in the central Party school in Beijing when they drafted the report, whose performance is of great importance for the good governance of the world's most populous country as they are basic functionaries implementing the central government's policies. The writers sent more than 4,000 draft copies of the report to grassroots government departments. And the report was modified many times.

If an article and the way it is written show the writer's personality and thinking, the report's refreshingly short sentences and colloquial style and its new framework reflect the new leadership's desire to cut bureaucracy and the efficient working style they are promoting.

To some extent, the report has been "structured" by circumstances, China's development has reached a phase where reform and opening-up and government modernization are essential for promoting economic growth and improving people's livelihoods. But the report also highlights the government's recognition these are all interrelated.

The first section of the report is more conservative when it comes to the government's achievements compared with previous years and it is made up of hard facts and figures. And, as Ning said, mentioning the past year's accomplishments is not to show off, but to consolidate people's confidence to face up to and overcome the new challenges.

The report objectively analyzes the challenges and strikes a delicate balance between creating a sense of urgency that the challenges must be met and the confidence that they can be tackled successfully.

A core message the Chinese government has sent through the report is the Chinese economy has the resilience and potential, if the necessary reforms and restructuring efforts are implemented, to realize growth of about 7 percent this year, a target that will guarantee enough jobs are created, and sufficient government revenue is generated to provide better public products and services.

The report does not dwell on principles, but explicitly sets the targets, deadlines, clear to-do lists and directions for almost all the government's fields of work.

Premier Li is using macro-control policies accurately and preemptively to ensure the number of new jobs and the consumer price index remain within a rational range. And government reform, efforts to stimulate innovation and consumption, and exports of capital and productivity are all endeavors to serve this purpose while restructuring the economy.

As the premier urged, local civil servants should feel the urgency of changing their mindsets and entering a new "state" under the country's new normal.

The author is a writer with China Daily. liyang@chinadaily.com.cn