The Chinese government vowed to continue to deepen its reforms, improve governmental functions and perfect taxation, finance and industry support policies for small- and medium-sized enterprises, said Vice Premier Ma Kai.

The moves are targeted at accelerating the development of the sector, he noted during the 21st APEC SME Ministerial Meeting, which opened on Friday in Nanjing.

Ma gave a welcome speech during the opening ceremony and said: "SMEs provide the key impetus for the national economy and social development. They are the origin of innovation and vitality, which also function as a main force to upgrade the economy."

One of China's long-term strategies is to improve the development of SMEs.

Ma also said that as the biggest and most influential economic organization of the Asia-Pacific region, APEC and its SME ministerial meeting had contributed greatly to improving the investment environment of the involved economies and the prosperity of SMEs in the region.

He suggested that the economies of APEC should further improve mechanisms to help develop SMEs, which in turn could further promote economic development in countries and the region as a whole.

SMEs were urged to improve their competitiveness and quality and communicate more frequently within the region, he said.

"As Vice Premier Ma said, China has played an important role in helping SMEs promote the prosperity and development of Asia-Pacific region. China has also introduced major measures and initiatives to promote the innovative development of SMEs," said Miao Wei, the minister of industry and information technology.

Some150 delegates took part in the event.

They agreed on the Nanjing Declaration to promote SME innovative development and announced joint efforts to boost the SME industry's sustainable growth in the region.

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