The government should play a dominant role in changing the economic growth pattern, said Chen Qingtai at the second plenary meeting of the annual session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top advisory body.

Chen also called for reforms of the method and indicators used for assessing local officials' work performance and a scientific division of administration and finance power between the central and local governments.

Ma Peihua, a CPPCC member from the China Democratic National Construction Association, a non-Communist party, said the country' s failure to achieve the goal in pollution control last year should be mainly attributed to local officials indifference to restrictions on pollutant discharge, which has not been taken as an indicator to assess their performance.

Zhang Huaben, an advisor from the non-Communist Jiu San ( September 3) Society, said it is an imperative task to support small and medium-sized enterprises, as most of them are in short of capital for technology innovation.

He suggested science and technology banks be set up within high-tech zones to grant loans to technology-intensive small and medium-sized companies.

CPPCC member Zhang Baoming proposed to strengthen the management and prospecting of coal mines and improve the recycle of resources.

Li Youwei suggested that the country's three major development areas, namely Shanghai's Pudong New District, Tianjin's Binhai New Area and Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, be transformed into bonded zones to meet the new demands from the country's reform and opening up drive.

Justin Yifu Lin, a known economist, said the government should give more support to local small and medium-sized banks so that they can offer better financial services to farmers, needy people as well as small and medium-sized enterprises.