Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang has urged the country's industrial enterprises to boost technological innovation and quality in order to improve their competitiveness.

Zhang said China's industrial sector is facing a "grim and complicated situation" and that governments and enterprises should have more foresight and prepare more adequately to meet emerging challenges.

Efforts must be made to ensure stable growth in the sector in order to buttress the development of the Chinese economy as a whole, Zhang said during a two-day inspection tour in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Zhang asked for more investment in technological development and encouraged enterprises to focus on technological innovation.

Zhang also asked industrial enterprises to improve the quality of their products and build their own brands in order to expand the market.