Innovation key to new economic growth, Xi says

President Xi Jinping said the country must quickly transform its economy using an innovation-driven strategy to achieve growth targets.

On a visit to universities and high-tech companies in Hunan province on Monday and Tuesday, the president said the country should develop innovations as well as science and technology to re-energize economic growth.

To drive an economic transformation forward, China must pass structural reforms and absorb the excess production capacity found in industrial sectors, he said.