Private firms given a boost by State Council

Premier Li Keqiang is pushing ahead with economic restructuring by setting up a joint liaison team headed by the mainland's top economic planner and introducing concrete measures to allow private firms to enter industries dominated by state-owned monopolies.

The moves come just two months before a key meeting of the Communist Party's Central Committee which is widely expected to announce important economic reforms.

The State Council had approved the setting up of a joint-meeting mechanism under which key regulators will hold regular or irregular meetings on economic reforms, Xinhua reported yesterday.

The joint meetings, to be headed by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), aim to solve problems in economic restructuring, research and study key reform schemes and co-ordinate on policies involved in the pilot reforms, it said.

Led by the NDRC, 35 ministries, administrations and other organisations will attend the meetings, with participants including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the People's Bank of China.

The State Council also announced several measures to allow private investment greater access to sectors previously monopolised by state-owned companies, China Central Television reported.