President Xi Jinping highlighted the importance of developing the real economy on Tuesday during his first inspection tour since the Party's 19th National Congress ended in October.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visited Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group Co, a leading part of China's construction machinery industry, based in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province.

As a big country, China must keep emphasizing development of the real economy, Xi said, adding that manufacturing is essential to the real economy, which should be driven by innovation and key technologies.

The real economy encompasses sectors concerned with producing goods and services as opposed to activity on financial markets.

At the company, Xi boarded the control cabin of a newly designed crane and asked about the function, production and price of the machine.

Xi was told that the crane was independently designed and produced by XCMG using more than 30 patents and sold in many developed countries. He encouraged the company to continue to boost innovation.

XCMG, founded in 1943, is the world's fifth-largest construction machinery company and is ranked 65th in the list of China's Top 500 Companies, the company said.

Source: China Daily