The premier said the country still has great potential for development since the enormous potential of domestic spending has not been tapped and can support the economy once it has been.

Haikou Harbor is one of China's 25 major coastal ports and an important gateway to countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Trade with ASEAN countries is the fastest-growing part of Haikou Harbor's imports and exports, comprising one-quarter of the volume with an increase of 62.3 percent last year.

Li also looked at how the Haikou Bureau of Commercial and Industry Administration has cut red tape for business startups, and he visited an ecological conservation area that has the country's largest tidal mangrove forest.

Chen Zhiwu, a professor of finance at Yale University, said China is still trying to reverse the damage that the 2008 stimulus package did to its economy, and local governments should be cautious when working out "fine-tuning" policies to tackle the current difficulties.

Some measures are needed, but one should be careful not to overreact, he said. In addition, he warned that these fine-tuning policies should innovate businesses, instead of government-led investment, to rule out the possibility of overcapacity.

Top 10 figures in 2014 govt work report

Experts: GDP growth target reasonable