China's Premier Li says confident in economy, vows no hard landing

By Jason Subler and Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Premier Li Keqiang defended the government's economic policies on Wednesday, vowing there would be no mass layoffs and no hard landing for the world's second-largest economy even as the government presses ahead with painful reforms. While conceding that downward pressure is increasing, Li and other top officials at the annual meeting of parliament this month have repeatedly tried to reassure jittery financial markets and China's major tra