China will step up reforms and pursue quality and efficiency in growth next year, Vice Premier Li Keqiang has said.

Li urged officials to have both courage and wisdom in putting forward reforms and achieving down-to-earth economic growth at a symposium brainstorming on economic and social work and reform in Beijing on Wednesday, according to a press release issued Thursday.

Growth should be unadulterated and bring genuine benefits to people by increasing employment and allowing individuals' incomes to catch up with the fast-expanding economy, he said.

He also noted that growth should be affordable for the current situation of energy and resources and achieved on the condition that environmental conditions improve.

Under the current sluggish global economy, China needs to boost domestic demand through urbanization, which needs reform, he noted.

In detail, China should push forward urbanization by promoting household registration reform, improving financing and management for infrastructure and low-income housing and ensuring food security, he said.

Urbanization and reform will provide combined impetus for sustainable economic growth, he added.

As for structural obstacles, he called on officials to break the old frame that limits reform progress.

He vowed to further financing reform and remove the "glass ceiling" that hinders private investment by shortening the approval process and reducing transaction costs.

He also urged expanding the value-added tax pilot program to more regions and promoting structural adjustment to cut the unreasonable tax burden.

(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2012)