Workers at a construction site in Luannan, North China's Hebei Province, in May 2018 Photo: IC

China's economic growth could swing within a reasonable range, but it won't be allowed to go through a "significant drop," Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said, according to a report on the central government's official website on Thursday.

"We will withstand the downward pressure by stimulating market vitality, which is also an important orientation of our reform in 2019," Li further noted.

The remarks were made at a meeting chaired by Li on Tuesday, which aimed to solicit public opinion and suggestions from experts, scholars and businessmen on a draft version of the government work report. 

"The meeting could be an indicator of the final version of the government work report, and will be constructive for the government's work in 2019, especially in the face of a considerable slowdown in the domestic economy. The central government needs voices from different walks of life," Dong Dengxin, director of the Finance and Securities Institute at Wuhan University of Science and Technology, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Yu Yongding, senior researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said at the meeting that China should strengthen its infrastructure investment, implement a more proactive fiscal policy and "make the prevention of a further decline in economic growth a major government work."

"If there is no necessary growth, all economic indicators will deteriorate, and the long-term targets such as structural adjustment and reform of the economic system will go nowhere," Yu noted.

Alibaba Group's founder Jack Yun suggested that more tax cuts should be introduced to improve the capital market and financial system, and the government should also improve its governance, to avoid the "one size fits all" phenomenon in all sectors.

Premier Li warned on Monday that downward pressure will be intensified in 2019, and the country will carry out reform and opening-up policies to maintain at a healthy rate.

China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, expanded 5.4 percent year-on-year in November, the National Bureau of Statistics said in December. The figure has been below the psychologically important 6 percent since September.

During the seminar, Li stressed the importance of a free and fair business environment and consistent support for enterprises, especially private and small ones. Inclusive and structural tax reforms and fee cuts will be better implemented, and more will be done to address the financing difficulties of market entities, according to a report from the Xinhua News Agency.

"Enterprises, particularly those in the manufacturing sector, are in a difficult situation. The size of tax relief and fee cuts could be larger," Dong said.

While Dong said that any support from the central government would be just "external," domestic companies should step up efforts to improve their research level and innovation ability to achieve structural upgrading.

Investment in public services and major infrastructure projects will be increased in a targeted, timely and reasonable manner, and there will be greater support to expanding domestic consumption to unlock the vast potential of the domestic market, Li said, according to Xinhua.