Xi stresses role of sci-tech innovation

President calls for efforts to solve key issues hindering development

President Xi Jinping has underscored the importance of scientific and technological self-reliance and innovation in supporting China's sustained development, and he reiterated the nation's opening-up despite the trend in some countries against economic globalization and the rising tide of protectionism.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during an inspection tour of northeastern China's Liaoning province on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The inspection tour took Xi to the cities of Jinzhou and Shenyang, where he visited a revolutionary memorial, a forest park, an enterprise and a residential community. He also met with representatives of military officers stationed in Shenyang, the provincial capital.