China will accelerate the development of service industry and turn it into the pillar industry of national economy, Chinese Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan told a national conference closed in Hefei, a eastern Chinese city, on Sunday.

"For years, China's booming service trade has been creating many new jobs and becomes all the more important in our lives," Zeng said. "Under the new situation, we should pursue a scientific strategy of development, alter the mode of economic development and promote service trade and public service," he said.

Zeng considered it a priority to develop modern services including logistics, finance, information, technology, business, environment protection, service outsourcing.

Zeng called for more policy, financial and intelligence support to this sector and lower the threshold of the service trade.

Official statistics show, China's service industry employs 246 million people, making up 32 percent of the country's employees, and the sector's added value totaled 8.2 trillion yuan (1,09 tillion US dollars) last year, accounting for almost 40 percent of the gross domestic product.

China plans to raise the proportion of service industry to half the country's total output value by 2020.

(Xinhua News Agency September 24, 2007)