Chinese President Hu Jintao has urged local authorities to speed up the adjustment of industrial structures and the transformation of production methods during an inspection tour of south China's Guangdong Province.

During the adjustment process, Hu Jintao said, innovation ability should play the key role.

He emphasised the importance of understanding, absorbing and innovating advanced technologies, which could then be developed as core technologies with China's own intellectual property rights, thus enhancing Chinese businesses' core competitiveness.

President Hu Jintao visited Guangdong shortly after his trip to Macao to attend celebrations for the 5th anniversary of Macao's return to China and to participate in the inauguration of the second-term government of the Macao Special Administrative Region.