Ning said in the article published on Friday that close attention needed to be paid to new problems that had emerged amid the recovery, such as in the area of employment.
Still, China's overall employment situation was generally stable, household incomes were experiencing growth and the country's balance of payments continued to improve, he said.
China's economy has largely recovered from disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. However, manufacturers are grappling with new challenges including higher raw material prices, surging logistics costs and global supply chain bottlenecks, and the pace of gross domestic product growth is expected to moderate.
Record flooding in central China may have also weighed on business activity in July.
Beijing has not included any average annual growth targets in its 2021-2025 economic plan, unlike the previous five-year plan issued in 2016, but has pledged to keep growth in a "reasonable" range over the five-year period.
Ning said in March that China is confident of achieving its 2021 economic targets, but cautioned against risks and challenges facing the economy this year, citing a "grim and complicated" global picture.
(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
