国内英语新闻:China at key stage of reform, development

However, she said, it is only the market that can provide continuous momentum for the country's development.

The government-dominated development model is very likely to have a "crowding-out effect", which might hamper activities in the private sector, she said.

Her view was echoed by Xu Guangjian, deputy director of the School of Public Policy and Management at Remin University, who called for the government to open more sectors to private investors in the next five years with detailed measures on loosening and encouragement of access to the market.

Income distribution, resource taxation and urbanization are also hot topics that had been repeatedly mentioned by economists, but they pointed out that it is more important for the government to turn itself into a public service-oriented institution and achieve social justice.

While trying to maintain sustainable growth, observers believed that growth in domestic production alone cannot solve all the problems that came out of the economic development process, and China should continue to strive for social justice in the next stage of reform.

"It is natural for people to ask for a better social environment after becoming satisfied at their material levels. But China's social undertakings have long lagged behind its economic development, which must be solved in the next five-year period," said Zhang Liqun, a researcher with the State Council's Development Research Center.

China has kicked off a health-care reform and a reform in the educational system, and the country is also planning to expand its social safety net by enlarging the number of social security cardholders to 800 million in the next five years from the current 190 million.

Also, better public services could lead to a better market environment so that the government could rid itself of redundant administrative procedures and focus on the promotion of social justice, said economists.

"The remaining battles in Chinese reforms are tough and challenging, and the key point is to establish a system that complies with the principle of scientific development, which would fuel the country's economic development at a fundamental level," said Zhang.