Top leaders said on Friday China will seek steady economic progress by making more reforms in all areas.

The remarks were made in a statement released after the annual Central Economic Work Conference.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, speaks at the Central Economic Work Conference in Beijing, capital of China. The conference is held in Beijing from Dec. 10 to 13. [Xinhua/Li Tao]

During the four-day meeting that started on Tuesday — longer than the two-to-three-day events in previous years — President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang called for reform to be spread to every area of economic and social development, the statement said.

Their commitment to more reforms comes just one month after the Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China outlined future reform in up to 60 areas.

To boost the reforms, top leaders asked all local governments and central government departments to set up a branch organization to specialize in reform in their areas.

This followed the decision at the Third Plenum to form a high-level commission to coordinate nationwide reform efforts.

The economic work conference vowed to maintain a stable economic situation while achieving reasonable growth. But no specific GDP growth target was announced.

In the statement, the leaders were candid about the "downside risks" facing China, including excessive production capacity, serious structural unemployment (affecting certain groups), environmental degradation, poor quality of food and medicine, and public security inadequacies.

Externally, there are many uncertainties, including a lack of sources for new growth.