China’s Li Vows to Ensure Growth Amid Reforms That Cut Flesh

Premier Li Keqiang pledged to protect job creation in China as the leadership presses ahead with a “painful” push to cut corruption and waste by reducing the role of the state.

Policy makers will take action if China’s growth, which the government targeted at about 7 percent this year, drifts toward the lower limit of its range and cuts into employment or wages, Li told reporters. While stripping the government of some of its role in the world’s second-largest economy may face resistance from vested interests, it is crucial, he said.