¡¡¡¡BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Vice-Premier Wu Bangguo urged Monday senior provincial or municipal-level officials to carry out the guidelines of the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held in mid November along with those of the ensuing Central Work Meeting on Economy.

¡¡¡¡He also called on officials to undertake more in-depth retooling in the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) for better efficiency and stronger competitiveness.

¡¡¡¡Wu, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made these remarks to leading officials of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities during a meeting on the nation's trade and economic affairs.

¡¡¡¡He affirmed and praised the economic and trade achievements made nationwide. With the hard, diligent work of all related sectors, he said, the SOEs as a whole have left behind their difficulties and returned to a path of sound growth, thus enabling them to contribute greatly to the sustained, fast and healthy growth of the national economy.

¡¡¡¡Wu noted the 16th CPC Party congress had explicitly stated that,in order to build a relatively affluent society, China should first go in for industrialization, yet an arduous task for the country and the principle objective of SOEs.

¡¡¡¡Having shaken off heavy losses incurred while undergoing reforms to survive in the market economy, Wu said, the SOEs are shifting their focus onto sustained development.

¡¡¡¡SOEs may play a leading role in the national economy and maintain growth only when they form a self-motivated system for sustained development, Wu acknowledged.

¡¡¡¡Further reforms should be unfolded, he added, to develop big, internationally-competitive firms which operate on their own in the market.

¡¡¡¡Another key point of SOE reforms in the coming years hinges on the continuation of structural adjustment and optimization of industrial resources which, will in turn help accelerate the process of industrialization, the Chinese vice-premier said. Enditem