Xi highlights reform-driven growth

Shandong's key role in high-level opening stressed

President Xi Jinping has urged Shandong, China's second-largest province in population and an important economic powerhouse, to pursue reform-driven high-quality development and build itself into "a hub of high-level opening-up", as he wrapped up an inspection tour to the eastern province on Friday.

The three-day fact-finding trip brought Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, to the cities of Rizhao and Jinan.

During his visit on Wednesday afternoon to Rizhao Port, a national model for intelligent and sustainable bulk cargo handling, Xi affirmed the port's efforts in turning itself from a traditional port into a modern one by advancing technological innovation in recent years.