Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang has dismissed Western claims that slowing manufacturing output was a sign of decline, saying that the Chinese economy had "tremendous potential and resilience."

Speaking after the latest session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Mr Li said a gross domestic product growth target of 7.5 per cent was "flexible."

"We are not preoccupied with GDP growth," he said, noting that government needed to "strike a balance" between economic expansion and the need to tackle pollution and save energy.

"It's not going to be easy," he admitted - but announced that the government would now "declare war" on smog.

Pollution was the hottest topic of the session, with delegates demanding stronger action to bring the problem under control.

Qin Xiyan of Hunan province said the fines for businesses caught breaching environmental regulations were far too small.

And former China Meteorological Association director Qin Dahe said: "It's bad enough that businesses ignore the law in pursuit of profit. But lax law enforcement and soft punishment make things worse."

Local governments were also told to merge poverty alleviation funds to make them easier for destitute families to access after Chongqing delegate Zhang Yu complained that "relief funds are not few, but are scattered in different district government departments that require different conditions for receiving funds."

Other pledges emerging from the congress meeting included a commitment to create 10 million new urban jobs, to make government medical insurance "portable and transferable" and to raise the allocation of places for poor rural students at top universities by 10 per cent.