Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang called for more effective measures to ensure people's basic livelihoods and further coordinate the development of the country's economy and society.

Li made the remarks during his visits to the cities of Guyuan and Yinchuan in the economically under-developed northwestern Ningxia Hui autonomous region from Monday to Tuesday.

In a market economy, the government shoulders the unshirkable responsibility of addressing people's basic needs in various fields, such as education, medicine and old-age security as well as housing, Li said.

A sound social "safety net" will help give full play to people's initiative and wisdom to start businesses and build wealth, he said.

While visiting poor families in the villages of Kaicheng and Shangqingshi, Li urged the local government to speed up the repair of dilapidated houses and provide residents with better access to drinking water, electricity and roads.

The policy of ecological immigration should be adopted in areas featuring adverse natural conditions, he added.

In the People's Hospital of Yuanzhou District in Guyuan, Li called for the deepening of medical reforms and improvement of basic medical insurance in terms of coverage and quality.

While visiting low-income residents in urban Yinchuan, the regional capital, he urged high-quality construction and a fair distribution of indemnificatory houses, adding that housing is the most pressing and fundamental need for the low-income population.

In a supermarket in Yinchuan, Li urged local authorities and market workers to beef up food safety supervision and stabilize price levels ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, which is the most important traditional holiday in China.