TIANJIN - Unswerving efforts should be made to promote institutional and technological innovation in transforming China's economic growth pattern, Vice-Premier Li Keqiang said.

Innovation is the key to stimulating domestic demand, increasing the impetus for growth and coping with risks and difficulties, Li said during his inspection tour in the northern port city of Tianjin from Thursday to Friday.

When visiting the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Li said that innovation is vital, in particular in the face of the current complicated and more severe international environment, which holds increasing uncertainties.

"If enterprises want to survive and develop, they should expand domestic demand in the processing of opening-up, while changing to the innovation-driven development model," Li said, adding that capital, resources and the talented should also be centralized for innovation.

"An enterprise with more core technology, talented employees and proprietary brands will be better equipped to overcome market risks, and our national economy will be more competitive in this way. Meanwhile, such enterprises will be helpful in transforming the economic growth and industrial structure," he said.

"We should make great efforts to create a better environment and provide job opportunities for small or tiny companies through innovation funds and risk investments," he added.

While visiting Asia Power Systems (Tianjin) Ltd, a Caterpillar company, Vice-Premier Li checked the production and quality control process of high-efficient generators. He emphasized the important role that technology and quality play in the progress of an enterprise.

"We must borrow advanced international technologies and managerial experiences to increase the competitiveness of domestic enterprises, so as to transform China from a big manufacturer that excels only in size to a really strong one," he said.

Li also visited Tianjin Lishen Battery Joint-Stock Co Ltd and applauded the company's effort to prioritize research and development and market exploration.

Li urged domestic enterprise to aim high and follow the market closely for breakthroughs, expressing his hope to see domestic companies master important technologies and explore new markets to make more domestic brands known to the world.

Accompanied by Zhang Gaoli, member of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Political Bureau and the Tianjin Party chief, Li also visited the construction site of the city's Langtingyuan public rental housing project. Again, he urged the establishment of a national information system covering personal housing assets to lay the foundation for fair and open distribution of subsidized housing.

Li fully affirmed the achievements Tianjin has made and said the city should continue to make use of its geographic advantages and further promote the role of innovation in driving future growth.