2nd LD-Writethru-China Focus: 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 an area in need of 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.

China's economy slowed to 7 percent in the first half of this year mainly due to weak domestic and global demand, down from 7.3 percent last year but generally in line with the government's annual target for 2015.

In a speech delivered at the Summer Davos forum Thursday, Li said the Chinese economy is still within the reasonable range despite current difficulties and downward pressure.

"Ups and downs in growth are hardly avoidable, as they are natural in a period of adjustment and transition," the premier said.

The premier remained upbeat on the prospects of China's economy due to its great potential and resilience, ongoing structural reforms and the stress on mass entrepreneurship and innovation.

China has a labor force of 900 million and over 7 million people graduate from college every year, with more and more of people starting up new businesses.

Measures to streamline administration and simplify business registration have resulted in a surge in new businesses. In the past one and a half years, more than 10,000 new companies were registered each day in China. Endi