1st LD: Chinese premier underlines entrepreneurship, innovation

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has urged local governments to enhance support for mass entrepreneurship and innovation to add new impetus to the country's growth.

Li made the remarks in an inspection tour to northeast China's Dalian, which hosted the Summer Davos forum from Wednesday to Friday. He visited a platform providing services to makers, or those who turn innovative ideas to products.

He lauded some of the creative products and their market prospects, and urged the makers to come up with innovative ideas that meet market demands and also pursue the continuous improvement of details and quality of products.

Local governments should make earnest efforts to implement policies on supporting mass entrepreneurship and innovation, including streamlining administrative approvals and delegate power to lower levels, the premier said.

The country should create a sound environment for promoting the growth of startup companies, injecting new impetus for the country's economic growth, Li said.

He added that information technology can link people's creative ideas and push forward the integration of traditional manufacturing and modern service sectors in an effort to lower the cost for transforming industrial structure and raise quality and efficiency.

"The competitiveness of companies will take a leap forward with the increase of each weight of innovation," Li said after visiting a heavy machinery manufacturer in Dalian.

In the process to improve the quality of China's growth, the manufacturing sector is both a hard nut to crack and a source for breakthroughs, the premier said.

The country's bid to promote entrepreneurship and innovation not only expand the room for development of small and micro-sized firms, but also allow large companies to optimize their business, he said.

"With weak world economic recovery and withering global market, Chinese companies should take their due responsibilities and have the courage to compete in the global arena," Li said.

They should demonstrate the high cost effectiveness of Chinese equipment products and strive to build world-renowned brands, he said. Endi