Top legislator Wu Bangguo has urged local authorities to boost the country's economic and social development by adopting the scientific concept of development and being more innovative.

Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and a member of the standing committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, made the remarks during an inspection tour in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province between September 14 and 18.

In the first half of the year, the energy required to produce 10,000 yuan of GDP in China rose a further 0.8 percent. To add to the disappointment, China has seen an alarming rise in its key pollution indices -- chemical oxygen demand (COD) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) -- despite the government's environmental targets and pollution control efforts.

It indicates that China's "extensive economic growth mode and irrational economic structure haven't fundamentally changed," Wu said.

Wu asked government departments to grasp the importance of changing the current economic growth mode and integrate the scientific concept of development into their daily work.

During the inspection, Wu visited factories, forest farms and the homes of local residents. He also attended a roundtable discussion organized by the top legislative bodies of China and Russia.

(Xinhua News Agency September 19, 2006)