Chinese Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan Saturday called for greater efforts to develop the country's service industry and increase the industry's proportion in the nation's economic development.

Zeng, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, told a service industry work conference held Saturday in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, "It's an urgent task to quicken the development of the service industry."

"The development level of the service industry is an important symbol of a country's modernization," he said.

China's service industry has witnessed steady growth since the country adopted the reform and opening up policies. The fast growth of the service industry will help promote the change of China's growth pattern and build a resource-conserving and environmental-friendly society, he said.

It will also be of great significant to improve the socialist market-oriented economic system and facilitate the coordinated development of the nation's economy, the vice-premier said.

He called for accelerated development of communications and transportation, finance, information and other services.

Efforts should also be made to develop community service, trade and services related to tourism, cultural and recreational activities, sports and body-building. Services gearing to rural areas should be further improved.

He urged the sector to introduce and spread the use new technologies and develop China's own service name brands.

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2006)