(Xinhua)Chinese Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan said on Thursday that the northern port city of Tianjin should strive to make its Binhai New Area develop more quickly and open wider to the outside world.

As a gateway to north China, Binhai should be built into "a modern manufacturing base, an international shipping and logistics center and a thriving, harmonious urban zone for dwellers," said Zeng.

He made the remarks on a tour of Binhai when he inspected a one-million-ton ethylene project, a bonded port area, a container port and a housing project for low-income families.

The Binhai New Area was authorized by the central government in 2005 as another experimental development zone to supplement the dynamos of Shanghai and Shenzhen at the forefront of the country's economic transformation and as the "new engine of growth" for North China.

"Binhai should push forward corporate, technological, financial, taxation and government reforms and introduce more capital, management expertise and talent from the outside world," said Zeng.

Greater efforts should be made to develop the service industry and the manufacturing and hi-tech sectors, while economic cooperation with neighboring regions and northeast Asia countries should be strengthened.

To achieve an all-round and sustained development, Binhai should also try to save energy, make efficient use of natural resources and improve local people's livelihoods, said Zeng.