The state of the economy was uppermost on his mind when Premier Li Keqiang answered questions at his yearly press conference immediately following the closing session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on March 15. The range of pre-arranged questions was much narrower compared to previous years, indicating that slowing economic growth and the influence of the world economic situation on China is the major focus of the Chinese leadership.

Premier Li Keqiang admitted that China’s economy has indeed slowed down, and so has the global economy. China has adjusted its GDP growth target for 2019 to a range from 6% to 6.5%, but he emphasized that China would not let economic indicators slide out of range. Premier Li said China made “strong, united efforts to advance supply side structural reforms” to achieve 6.6% GDP growth last year, against a backdrop of protectionism globally. He added that the country needed to take strong measures to cope with the current downward pressures on the economy, including quantitative easing. “However, such indiscriminate approaches may work in the short run, but may lead to future problems. We want to energize the market, instead,” he said. The Chinese government’s policies will remain stable stable in 2019, with an emphasis on continuing to cut taxes and fees as well as broadening market access and leveling the playing field.

The Premier said other measures include changing required bank reserve ratios and interest rates, but added China would not go for monetary easing. China would “support the economy, no matter what the situation is”. Larger tax and fee cuts for companies is the most important and crucial step in handling the pressures of the economic downturn. The VAT rate will be cut from April 1. “We will ensure the tax burden on companies only goes down,” Li Keqiang told hundreds of journalists at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Li said he was happy with certain economic numbers. For instance, he said China’s fiscal deficit is budgeted to be 2.8% of GDP, which falls below the 3% line. He also said an economic growth rate between 6% and 6.5% is good. At the same time, the quality of these numbers are sometimes questioned – China’s official growth rate could be overestimated while its official fiscal deficit is widely seen as being underestimated. “China’s global ranking in terms of ease of doing business has moved up by 30 spots. There have been improvements, but we are still falling short in some aspects,” the Chinese Premier said.

“Big data suggests that ageing and child care services are two difficult issues facing China, and demands close government attention,” Li said as there are 250 million Chinese over 60, 170 million over 65, and up to 100 million below 6. “Services targeting these groups are lacking,” he commented. Li said there are only three beds for every 100 senior citizens and in big cities a person may need to wait till 90 for a spot in a care home.

Premier Li refused to be drawn into discussing the trade negotiations with the U.S., only saying that relations between China and the U.S. have gone forward despite the many twists and turns, due to mutual interests. “Economic decoupling between the U.S. and China is not realistic or feasible”, said Premier Li as he sidestepped questions on spying allegations made by the U.S. He did tell a reporter: “You said the Chinese government asks companies to spy on other nations. Are you talking about the government or individuals? This is not consistent with Chinese law, we did not do that and we will not do that in future.” The Chinese Premier said he was optimistic that the China-U.S. trade talks will yield results acceptable to both sides. “U.S.-China tensions are between two parties, we won’t exploit, let alone harm, the interests of third parties,” Li said when asked about relations with the EU. He said he will be going to Europe next month to promote ties.

Premier Li said the government should not exercise arbitrary oversight over new forms of business and business models, such as internet plus and the sharing economy, as they create new jobs and convenience for people. They should be allowed a chance to grow and develop. The Premier also said expressway tolls would be eliminated to ease traffic jams and promote industrial development, and that the price of electricity for industrial use would be cut by 10% this year.

At is closing session, the NPC gave approval to the new Foreign Investment Law (FIL). Only eight delegates voted against the law, and another eight abstained, while 2,929 voted to approve it. Fostering a favorable business environment by improving the rule of law and offering better legal services will be a priority for Chinese courts this year, Zhou Qiang, President of the Supreme People’s Court, said. The Foreign Investment Law will come into force on January 1, 2020.

The President of the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) pledged to increase pressure on financial crime after a sharp rise in prosecutions for illegal crowdfunding, pyramid schemes and bad loans. The Chief Prosecutor said 27,000 people were charged with running scams in 2018. Financial scams have spread rapidly across China in the past decade and victims of the schemes, which offer unrealistically high returns, often include the most vulnerable members of society such as low-income migrant workers, the elderly and the unemployed. Thirty-two officials at or above ministerial level were charged with corruption last year. Chinese courts across the country handled a surge in IPR-related cases – 288,000 of them, an increase of 42% year-on-year.

Premier Li’s “Report on the Work of the Government” was approved unanimously – 2,945 delegates voted in favor and three abstained – compared to 378 delegates who voted against Li’s first report as Premier in 2014. A total of 156 and 71 NPC delegates voted against the reports submitted by the President of the Supreme People’s Court and the Chief Prosecutor. Five to 10 years ago it was common for up to 600 of the nearly 3,000 NPC delegates to vote against the two reports to show their disapproval of China’s rampant corruption. Since then, the number of opposing votes has dropped, falling below 200 last year.