The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held a group study on the transformation of the country's economic development on Monday.

Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said that accelerating the transformation of economic development was a pressing strategic task vital to the economy.

It is "a fundamental measure to enhance the country's economic competitiveness and ability to deal with risks and an important guarantee of the goal of building a moderately affluent society in a comprehensive way," he said while presiding the group study.

Hu said since China launched its reform and opening-up drive 30 years ago, the economy had sustained rapid growth, living standards had been significantly improved and great achievements had been made in socialist modernization construction.

China is at a decisive stage of reform and development and has entered an important period for industrialization and modernization, Hu said.

He added that its adaptation to changing international circumstances and domestic development and breakthroughs in the transformation of its economic development were important for long-term, stable and rapid economic development.

Hu said: "We should keep to the new path of industrialization with Chinese characteristics and promote economic growth to shift from relying mainly on investment and exports to relying on a well-coordinated combination of consumption, investment and exports; from secondary industry serving as the major driving force to primary, secondary and tertiary industries jointly driving economic growth, and from relying heavily on increased consumption of material resources to relying mainly on advances in science and technology, improvement in the quality of the workforce and innovation in management."

Hu said macro-economic controls should be strengthened and improved. He added that the trend of slower global economic growth, and its impact on China, should be accurately observed.

"We should improve the nature of scientific, foresighted and effective macro-economic controls, adjust and optimize the investment structure and vigorously support modern agriculture, energy conservation and pollution discharge reduction to ensure the realization of macro-economic control goals," he said.

He called for substantial efforts to increase the capability of innovation, taking a road of innovation with China's own characteristics, giving greater priority to increasing the capability of independent innovation, further deepening the restructuring of the country's science and technology sector, implementing major research and development programs, and actively creating an environment to encourage enterprises to innovate.

China shall make greater efforts in developing technologies regarding energy-efficient materials, new energies and oil substitutes, Hu said. He pledged to speed up the development of service sector, integrate urban and rural development, modernized the agriculture to better feed its 1.3 billion people.

China will exert greater efforts to develop a recycling economy by forming an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly industrial structure, mode of growth and manner of consumption, he said.

Hu emphasized that the key to economic development transformation is in the hands of the Party committees and governments of all levels.

He pledged to persist in the orientation of socialist market economy in the ongoing reform drive, while trying to make it more "vigorous, efficient, open and conducive to the scientific development."

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2008)