Wen, also a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks during a panel discussion with a National People's Congress (NPC) delegation from Gansu, an economically less-advantaged province in northwest China.

　　He called for the transformation of government functions featured by building a service-oriented government that performs duties in compliance with law.

　　By means of reform, he acknowledged, "we should put into practice the scientific outlook on development, reinforce the achievements of macro-control, tackle long-term and deeply-rooted contradictions and problems in economic and social development so as to build a harmonious society."

　　"We should hinge on talents and technology to effect the transfer of economic growth pattern and upgrade the quality and efficiency of economic growth," the premier said.

　　Wen also urged the masses of people in the western areas to exert far greater efforts than the people elsewhere in China to "change the looks" of the region.

　　Moreover, the Chinese premier heard reports from an NPC deputy on harnessing local desertification, easing poverty and overcoming difficulties in the popularization of compulsory education in Gansu.