Less intervention in market-oriented economic reform: lawmakers

China's national lawmakers have called for less government intervention in pushing forward the country's market-oriented economic reform.

From Monday to Tuesday, members of the Financial and Economic Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) discussed a report on the economic situation for the first half of the year by the State Council, China's cabinet.

Lawmakers agreed that although China's economy continued to slow down during the first half, it has been running smoothly in general, according to a press release from the top legislature.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) last week announced a 7.6-percent year-on-year expansion of China's GDP in the second quarter of 2012, slowing from 8.1 percent in the first quarter.

The figure, which marked the sixth consecutive quarter of slowdown, marked the lowest growth rate since the first quarter of 2009 and was within market expectations of less than 8 percent.

The lawmakers urged the government to stick to the year's general principle of "making progress while preserving stability" and continue to implement an active fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy.

The government should carefully implement policies and measures that have already been issued and make macroeconomic regulatory policies more targeted, forward-looking and flexible, the lawmakers said.

The government should cautiously direct investment in order to prevent excess capacity and financial risks, the lawmakers said.

The government should continue relaxing private investment's access to the capital market and protect private investors' legitimate rights and interests, the lawmakers said.

The lawmakers said the government should continue to suppress speculatory demand in the real estate market and increase supplies of land for smaller homes.

The government should adopt more economic measures to adjust real estate market and contain speculation through the creation of tax policies, the press release said.

The government should continue market-oriented economic reforms and transform its method of managing economic issues by reducing administrative intervention and letting market mechanics play a fundamental role in allocating resources, it said.