CHENGDU - Vice President Xi Jinping on Friday called for boosting development in southwest China's Sichuan Province by transforming the province's economic growth strategy and making innovations in the arena of social management.

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (2nd R) visits the family of Wang Chengbing in Jina Village of Qiang ethnic group of Beichuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Aug. 19, 2011.[Photo/Xinhua]

Xi made the remarks while visiting Beichuan County, which was devastated by an 8.0-magnitude earthquake on May 12, 2008. Xi visited the county after accompanying US Vice President Joe Biden during the last day of his six-day official visit to China.

He encouraged local residents to strive to build their hometown into a more prosperous place, adding that "the Chinese nation cannot be beaten by any hardship" and that the country's socialist system has the advantage of being able to concentrate various forces in order to succeed.

Innovation should be spurred in order to support the transformation of the region's economic growth mode, said Xi, who is also a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

Rural public services should be developed in order to make them comparable to those found in urban areas, Xi said. He encouraged local officials to visit rural areas and help people living in those areas to solve "practical problems."

Xi said local governments should refrain from using economic growth figures to evaluate the performance of their officials.