NDRC expects steady growth

China will work to achieve steady economic growth and focus on quality in the second half of the year by further expanding demand and accelerating restructuring and reforms, the head of the country's top economic planner said in a government report Wednesday.

The report came after the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee decided Tuesday that the CPC will hold a key meeting in November to discuss major issues concerning overall and deepened reforms.

Improving the quality and efficiency of the country's economic growth will remain a "central task" in the second half of the year, and the country will maintain the consistency and stability of its macroeconomic policies, Xu Shaoshi, head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). said in a report submitted to the ongoing bimonthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, the Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday.

China is still in an important period of strategic development and "we have the confidence, conditions and capabilities to maintain healthy economic growth and achieve an updated version of China's economy," Xu was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

"More and more positive signs of economic growth have emerged recently with some research institutes starting to raise China's growth forecast for the year," said Zhuang Jian, an economist at the Asian Development Bank.

The latest positive data came on Tuesday when the National Bureau of Statistics said the profits of China's major industrial enterprises surged 11.6 percent year-on-year in July, quickening from the 6.3 percent rate seen in June.

"The key for economic policy will be balancing economic restructuring and development to achieve sustainable growth in the medium and long term. The emphasis is not new but is even more important at this critical time," Zhuang said.

Xu also admitted in the report Wednesday that China is still facing challenges in steadying its economic growth, citing weak recovery of the global economy, rising trade protectionism and operating difficulties for small and medium-sized firms, according to Xinhua.

A total of 15 countries and regions launched 39 investigations into Chinese exports in the first half of 2013, Xu said, noting that China will continue to encourage consumption by its more than 1.3 billion people to offset weak global demand.

"There are clear signs that China's economy is stabilizing but there are also factors that may pose downward pressure," Zhang Yongjun, a research fellow at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, a Beijing-based government think tank, told the Global Times Wednesday.

On Tuesday, it was announced that the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee will be held in November in Beijing to discuss deeper reforms.

The bureau said in Tuesday's statement that "there should never be an end" to development, reform and opening-up.

"There are profound expectations that further reforms and economic restructuring can ensure continuous economic growth. That's the right judgment and mindset," said Zhang.