The premier said there may be small ups and downs in the future, but the government is prepared to exercise new macroeconomic regulation to ensure steady economic performance if necessary.

Gu Qingyang, an economist with the National University of Singapore, said growth of 6.5 to 7 percent is achievable.

"China's economy is capable of achieving moderate and sound growth given its uniquely big market and huge demand from areas like pollution treatment and urbanization," said Gu.

According to Li, the country is determined to press ahead with its reform agenda, and reform and development are not in conflict, as pursuing structural reforms can drive economic growth.

"In summary, we will press ahead with cutting overcapacity while avoiding massive job losses," he said, claiming that central and local governments have all the resources they need to help laid-off employees.

To cushion the effect of job losses on families and society, the central government has allocated 100 billion yuan (15.34 billion U.S. dollars) to help people made redundant find new jobs over the next two years. "The fund can be increased if necessary and the local governments should do their own job accordingly," according to Li.

Li also vowed to cut more red tape to give more play to the market this year. The central government has already cancelled one third of the items subject to administrative reviews and approvals since 2013.

"Transformation is never smooth and happy for everyone. With such a big population, it will be difficult for China," said Fredmund Malik, a senior Austrian economist invited to Beijing to offer advice on the government work report, along with 12 other foreign experts in January.

"Chinese leaders are both very competitive and very open-minded," said Malik. "I believe these leaders are taking the nation in the right direction."