Chinese Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan announced on Monday 16 categories of key equipment as priorities to invigorate the country's equipment manufacturing sector, official sources said on Tuesday.

The categories included large machinery for clean and efficient power-generation, large and complete sets of petro-chemical equipment, major coal mining machinery, large shipping vessels, high-speed trains, large precision high-speed numerically-controlled machine tools, and key equipment for integrated circuitry, the sources said.

Zeng told a national meeting on invigorating the country's equipment manufacturing sector that the government would launch major equipment manufacturing programs with the key items as top priorities.

He said a package of support programs for the independent development of major equipment would gradually make the country self-sufficient in designing, manufacturing, building and operating such machinery.

Zeng said China would strive to acquire core technology and system integration technology through coordinated research programs.

The government would improve its policies and regulations, including fiscal, scientific and industrial policies, to support research and development of major equipment and products, while creating a better market environment for fair competition.

China's equipment manufacturing sector had developed slowly with its capability of developing and manufacturing major equipment still weak and unable to meet the needs of social and economic development, he said.

The government had attached great importance to invigorating the equipment manufacturing sector with policies for its revival.

(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2006)