Wen affirmed the government's resolve to maintain its long-standing controls on the property sector.

The government will take steps to improve the domestic investment environment and diversify its export market, Xinhua cited President Hu Jintao as saying.

Hu was also quoted as saying that China would increase fiscal and monetary policy support to the economy in the second half of the year.

Hu and Wen made the comments in round table discussions with business leaders and academics, including former World Bank chief economist Justin Lin, according to Xinhua.

The comments are broadly in line with official pro-growth statements made in the wake of first half GDP data which showed the economy in the second quarter of 2012 had expanded at its slowest pace in more than three years.

(Reporting by Langi Chang, Xiaoyi Shao and Kevin Yao; Editing by Nick Edwards)

• A Permanent Economic Emergency