Premier Li Keqiang has expressed determination to press ahead with reforms meant to reduce the Chinese government's role in the economy in hopes of spurring growth despite what he acknowledged would be pain for "vested interests" that benefit from regulation.

"This is not nail-clipping. This is like taking a knife to one's own flesh," Mr Li said at a news conference after the close of China's annual legislature in Beijing. "But however painful it might be, we are determined to keep going until our job is done."

During his only news conference of the year, the premier repeated pledges to reduce requirements for government approval of new businesses.

He said the number of private businesses being set up has doubled following efforts already under way simplify the process of registering a new enterprise.

Mr Li acknowledged that reforms face opposition from politically influential state companies that might face tougher competition and officials who might see their own status reduced.

The address by Mr Li, 59, afforded him a rare opportunity to emerge from the shadow of the president and Communist Party leader, Xi Jinping, who has established himself as the most powerful Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping - author of China's modernisation drive in the 1980s.