Factory worker Ma Changhao, 40, still remembers the visit of Communist Party of China Central Committee General Secretary Xi Jinping to Shenyang's Tiexi district four years ago.

"I was working on part of a blower when he visited our workshop. He asked me what I was doing and asked us to keep improving the technical level," recalled Ma, who works for Shenyang Blower Works Group Corp, a State-owned enterprise that makes products like compressors, blowers and pumps.

Ma's conversation with the Party's leader came in August 2013, when Xi visited the manufacturing hub of Tiexi, in Liaoning province, and talked with workers and senior executives from Ma's company as well as Shenyang Machine Tool Co Ltd and Shenyang Yuanda Enterprise Group.

He asked company operators and local government officials to pay more attention to innovation and industrial upgrading and to take on the international competition.

As a leading large-scale compressor manufacturer, Shenyang Blower Works has been heavily involved in research and development in the past few years.

The company has set up cooperation with top universities and opened a postdoctoral research center, according to Liu Shengmin, the company's publicity department manager.

Guan Xiyou, president of Shenyang Machine Tool Co, said the company has invested billions of yuan in developing high-end intelligent factory machine tools that incorporate such technology as informatization and the internet.

"We used to provide products for customers, while now we provide a set of solutions. This is a transformation from a manufacturer to a product service provider," Guan said. "We will keep working according to Xi's instructions and focus on innovation and improving our competitiveness."

Tiexi district houses a large number of very large heavy industrial enterprises, including those producing robots and military aircraft.

"The development of high-end manufacturing industries is not only about prosperity but also national security. We have to depend on ourselves. Innovation is the only path to revitalization," said Li Kai, a professor at Dongbei University's School of Economics and Management.

Dong Feng, chief of Tiexi district, said local government has put a lot of effort into setting up innovation demonstration zones since last year with support from the central government.

With a boost from innovation, local companies have gained a good reputation and earned contracts in the international market.

Shenyang Yuanda said the quality of its elevators has led to international contracts. The company is planning to set up a factory in Southeast Asia.

"I am still inspired by Xi's words and feel proud of my work and our company," said Ma.