XINING, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang has urged efforts to coordinate high-quality development with high-level protection, and to accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system that leverages local characteristics and advantages.

Li, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection tour of northwest China's Gansu and Qinghai provinces that took place from Monday to Tuesday.

While inspecting a high-tech company and an industrial park in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, Li stressed the importance of keeping pace with international frontiers, of supporting enterprises and research institutions to increase R&D investment, and of improving mechanisms for talent cultivation.

He also inspected afforestation and ecological protection efforts along the Lanzhou section of the Yellow River. Praising local achievements in ecological restoration, he called for a holistic, systematic approach to the protection and conservation of mountain, water, forest, farmland, grassland and desert ecosystems in order to continuously strengthen the country's hard-won green legacy.

In Xining, Qinghai Province, Li was briefed on local ecological protection efforts, as well as the utilization of green power and computing capacity. He highlighted Qinghai's significance in ecological protection, and its advantages in developing clean energy and green computing, calling for the steadfast pursuit of green development and the further integrated development of green computing and power.

At a local food company, Li encouraged enterprises to deepen their engagement in the green agriculture and animal husbandry sectors, thereby playing a greater role in improving quality and efficiency, as well as in boosting employment and incomes among farmers and herders.

Fully affirming the economic and social development achievements of Gansu and Qinghai, Li also urged further progress in green development and in the large-scale development of the country's western regions, with the aim of making new contributions to the country's overall development.