BEIJING - China's top legislator Wu Bangguo on Saturday called for the continuous improvement and development of the people's congress system to ensure institutional guarantee for the country's stability and advancement.

While joining in a panel discussion with legislators from northeastern Jilin province on the work report of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC), Wu said China should adhere to the right political direction and unswervingly keep on the socialist path of political development with Chinese characteristics.

Wu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said China needs to organically integrate the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the position of the people as masters of the country and the rule of law.

He said China should grasp the essence of the people's congress system and give full play to its advantages so as to provide institutional guarantee for the country's prosperity and lasting stability.

Premier Wen Jiabao?talks with NPC deputies from Shaanxi province?in Beijing on March 10, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua]

Other Chinese leaders also joined with national legislators in panel discussions.

Joining with NPC deputies from Shaanxi province, Premier Wen Jiabao said he completely agreed with the work report delivered by Wu Bangguo on Friday at the parliamentary session.

Wen urged local governments to grasp the opportunities created by the?breakthroughs in the world's scientific and technological innovation and industrial restructuring since the onset of the global financial crisis.

Shaanxi is on an upward trend and at a critical time of development, and it should spearhead the reform of mechanisms concerning science and technology, as well as education, the premier said.

Wen called on the province to bolster the integration between scientific research and higher education, between research institutions and businesses, between science and finance, and between military and civilian resources, in order to build Shaanxi into a leader of innovation among the country's western regions.

At the discussion with deputies from southwestern Guizhou province, Vice Premier Li Keqiang expressed his support for the report on the work of the NPC Standing Committee and voiced appreciation for the progress made in Guizhou.

Transforming economic development pattern is a major task not only for the eastern regions but also for the less-developed western regions, Li said.

Guizhou should pay more attention to properly developing infrastructure, boosting its own advantageous industries, promoting industrialization and urbanization, and modernizing agriculture, he said.

Li said the province should work to improve irrigation facilities, protect the environment and remedy desertified land.

More efforts should be made to reduce poverty, ensure safe drinking water and help farmers rebuild their houses that are in poor condition, the premier said.

He Guoqiang, chief of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC, attended the panel discussion with a delegation from China's coal-rich Shanxi province, expressing his hope that Shanxi optimizes the coal industry while promoting the development of non-coal industries.

Efforts should be made to improve the development of the cultural and tourism sectors while enhancing the construction of an ecologically sound environment in order to achieve sound and rapid development, said He.

He called on local CPC members to maintain the advanced nature and purity of the Party to ensure the development of undertakings of both the Party and the country.