Chinese premier urges Tianjin to promote high-quality development through deeper reform

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday urged north China's Tianjin Municipality to carry out reform tasks, promote high-standard opening-up, actively explore innovation, and propel high-quality development through further deepening reform comprehensively.

Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection in the city following the recent conclusion of the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee.

In a sci-tech innovation park, Li spoke with researchers and representatives of fintech institutions and start-up companies to learn about the construction of innovation services ecosystems and the application of research results.

More effort should be made to promote the integrated development of technological and industrial innovation, create more attractive scientific innovation platforms, and improve incentives for scientific researchers and support for small and medium-sized tech firms, he said.

When inspecting an elevator manufacturer and a financial leasing company in the Tianjin Binhai New Area, Li said that good use should be made of favorable policies such as the country's large-scale equipment upgrade program, and that enterprises should receive vigorous support in promoting innovation and application in the field of artificial intelligence.

He also highlighted the importance of financial tools, including financial leasing, in serving the real economy and facilitating industrial transformation and upgrading.

Li encouraged the Binhai New Area to stimulate vitality more effectively by deepening reform. In particular, he stressed the importance of institutional innovation and the need to break bottlenecks in the reform of the pilot free trade zone, financial innovation, new urbanization and high-standard opening-up.

The area should amplify its port and shipping advantages, stimulate the enormous potential of industrial upgradation, and strengthen its cooperation on policies and projects with neighboring Beijing and Hebei Province to play a greater role in promoting the coordinated development of the region, Li added.