Vice Premier Hui Liangyu has called for county-level economic development with a strategic view to promote the national campaign of building new countryside.

Acting as a linkage between urban and rural areas, county towns have both agricultural and non-agricultural economic features and play a significant role in boosting the country's overall economic and social development, Hui said at an economic forum on developed counties recently held in Rongcheng of east China's Shandong Province.

The development of county-level economy is an important way to make different regions develop in a coordinated and balanced way and ensure the sustained and rapid growth of the national economy, the vice premier said.

Official statistics show that there were 660 cities and 1642 counties in China by the end of 2003.

He said the Chinese government will open the counties wider to foreign investors, introduce advanced expertise and technologies and talents, and upgrade local industrial structure.

Hui noted that urban areas should try to extend infrastructure, public services and industrial chains to county towns, and developed counties should share their experiences with less developed areas.