The premier said China's reforms of the rail system had been "smooth and stable" following its dismantling in March 2013 - the most important part of administrative restructuring under the current leadership - which separated the now-defunct Ministry of Railways' management, from its enterprise functions.
"You've done a lot to crack open a hard nut in the past year. You've made significant achievements and what you have done will serve as a model for the reform of other state-owned enterprises," Li said.
He is the first top leader to pay a visit to China Railway Corp, which is headquartered in western Beijing.
Nationwide property tax being considered
China is likely to introduce a nationwide property tax as early as next year following trials in Chongqing and Shanghai, according to an official at China's top legislative body.
The National People's Congress, the top legislature, is drafting a property tax law that is expected to wrap up later this year and be imposed in 2015, said the official from the NPC, who asked for anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
Unlike the trials in Chongqing and Shanghai, where the property tax is levied on houses only, the planned national property tax will target houses and land.
"The method of taxation is still under discussion and is subject to changes," the official said, adding that the NPC is also soliciting opinions from experts and tax authorities.
Specifically, the tax ratio has not been decided, nor has the question of whether the tax will be levied on newly built properties or on properties already owned.
The new tax is expected to combine several existing taxes, including a land tax on property developers, a tax for occupying arable land and a tax for house transactions.
Microsoft to work with anti-monopoly probe
A Chinese antitrust regulator has said that Microsoft Corp, currently under investigation by officials for violating China's anti-monopoly law, has expressed its willingness to cooperate with the ongoing probe.
Zhang Mao, head of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, said: "After multiple meetings, including at high levels, they have expressed a willingness to respect Chinese law and collaborate with investigating officials."
The Microsoft investigation comes amid a series of antitrust probes into foreign firms in China, including mobile chipset maker Qualcomm and German carmaker Daimler's luxury auto unit Mercedes-Benz.
The State Administration for Industry and Commerce revealed earlier this month that Microsoft was suspected of violating anti-monopoly laws in relation to problems with compatibility, bundling and document authentication for its Windows operating system and Microsoft Office software.
Hundreds 'should be sent back to prison'
The country's top prosecution body has suggested that more than 700 convicted criminals, including 76 corrupt senior officials, whose sentences were commuted illegally, should be returned to prison.
His comments followed an intensified crackdown on the illegal commutation of sentences or conditional releases, said the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
"Apart from receiving tip-offs from the public and the media, we have also conducted investigations to find such cases," said SPP spokesman Zhang Bencai.
The top procuratorate said that since March, national prosecutors have received 428 items of information involving the illegal reduction of sentences, release on parole, or the serving sentences outside of prison.
They have investigated 120 law enforcement officers on suspicion of dereliction of duty or abusing their powers to help prisoners obtain reduced sentences or conditional release in exchange for huge bribes.
Under Chinese criminal law, if inmates behave well or are credited with "meritorious achievements", including inventions and technological innovations while in prison, their sentences can be commuted.
Meanwhile, rules on serving sentences outside of prison are soon to be issued in an effort to curb corruption of prison officials and ensure better supervision of inmates, prison authorities said.
Yuan Qiguo, head of the procuratorial supervision department under the Supreme People's Procuratorate, said that illegal granting of parole, sentence reductions and sentences outside prison can easily occur based on the evaluation of an inmate's performance, identifying their contributions and for medical reasons.
Li pledges aid to Caribbean nation
Premier Li Keqiang and his Antigua and Barbuda counterpart, Gaston Browne, have vowed to seek more common ground in economic cooperation and broader mutual support on international affairs.
Li and Browne met for an hour in Beijing on Aug 26 this week and agreed to expand cooperation in clean energy, agriculture, tourism, education and healthcare. Li said China will help in the construction of highways, airports and ports in the Caribbean country.
Li said China has also agreed to provide financial aid, goods and no-interest loans to the country, which has been struggling since the 2008 financial crisis and is $1 billion in debt, roughly equivalent to its annual GDP.
Govt agencies raise ceiling for college loans
Four ministries and government departments have agreed to raise the ceiling for national student loans granted to undergraduates and master's and doctoral students.
The Education Ministry said that college students from low-income families can apply for increases to their loans. It is working with the the Ministry of Finance, People's Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission on implementing the new arrangement.
According to the policy, an undergraduate student can now apply for as much as 8,000 yuan ($1,300), while graduate students can apply for a maximum of 12,000 yuan. Since 2002, all students have been allowed to apply for a loan of 6,000 yuan each year.
Militants seize Chinese engineers near Turkish
Suspected Kurdish militants have kidnapped three Chinese engineers in southeast Turkey near the border with Iraq and Syria, security sources said on Aug 25.
The workers were seized at a shop in the border town of Silopi the day before by suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers Party, also known as the PKK, who went on to attack a power plant construction site where the engineers worked, the sources said.
Xinhua News Agency quoted a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Turkey as saying the engineers "disappeared" after a thermal power plant in Silopi, which is being constructed by China Machinery Engineering Corp, was attacked by militants on Aug 24.
Condemned terrorists executed in Xinjiang
Eight terrorists have been executed in Xinjiang autonomous region.
They were involved in a number of cases, including the 2013 terrorist attack in Tian'anmen Square; seizing guns and assaulting police in Aksu; murder and manufacturing explosives in Kashgar; and establishing a terrorist organization, murdering a government official and burning checkpoints in Hotan, according to an official spokesman.
They recorded video showing their acts of burning national flags of dozens of countries including China, the United States, the UK, Germany, Egypt, Malaysia, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.