Senior leader urges sustainable economic growth

HARBIN -- Top legislator Wu Bangguo has called for more attention to be paid to the quality and efficiency as well as the coordination and sustainability of the country's economic growth.

Wu made the remarks during an inspection tour of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province from Monday to Saturday.

"We should accurately judge the current economic situation and stick to the principles of scientific development and making progress while maintaining stability," Wu said.

He urged local authorities to devote more efforts to transforming the development pattern, restructuring the economy and promoting industrial optimization, upgrading and innovation.

Noting that Heilongjiang is the country's leading province in grain production, Wu urged local authorities to speed up investment in water-related infrastructure and use advanced technologies and machinery in order to further contribute to the nation's grain security.

He said the province should take the lead in the development of modern agriculture.

More efforts should be made to protect forests and push forward development of other industries such as tourism and fruit-growing instead of logging as an approach to generate more income for the locals, he said.

He also called for coordinated development between rural and urban areas by improving transport networks and promoting the equalization of public services.

Bordering Russia, the province should further enhance cooperation with Russia and encourage enterprises to expand investment in the country to deepen Sino-Russian cooperation in economic and trade relations, tourism, and culture exchanges.

Further, more ecology-protection projects should be carried out and efforts must be made to prevent new pollution in the province, Wu said.