China's top lawmaker, Wu Bangguo, has called on Liaoning Province to regain its former glory as a major industrial base of the country by grasping opportunities, working hard and deepening reforms.

Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, issued the challenge during a study tour of the northeastern province during Aug. 28-September 1.

The senior legislator visited a number of local industries and residential areas, to learn about the reform and technical renovation of state-owned enterprises and the daily lives of the people.

During talks with local leaders, Wu praised Liaoning for its enormous contribution to China's economic development over the past decades. He reiterated that the central authorities have given top priority to the upgrading of traditional industrial areas in the northeast.

The fundamental way to revive the northeast is to deepen reforms and continue the current structural readjustments, said Wu, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

He urged the provincial government to strive for basic rejuvenation of the province by the year 2010, making Liaoning a new industrial base and a new powerhouse of the Chinese economy.

Wu stressed on several occasions the importance of properly handling the relationship between reform, development and stability, urging local governments to make great effort to settle major problems concerning the fundamental interest of the people, improve the social security system and help laid-off workers find new jobs.

(Xinhua News Agency Sepetember 2, 2004)