TIANJIN - President Hu Jintao recently visited high-tech companies in north China's Tianjin, urging innovation-powered industrial development.

At Lishen Battery Joint-stock Co., Ltd., a major lithium-ion battery firm, Hu urged the company to strive for further progress in core technological research and contribute more to the development of China's new energy industry.

"New energy is a strategic emerging industry with great prospects," Hu told the company's executives.

He also encouraged Dawning Information Industry Co., Ltd., which specializes in the research and production of high-performance computers, to step up research efforts and develop high-performance computers with greater strength and market popularity.

The visit was made Tuesday afternoon after Hu attended the opening ceremony of the 12th general academic conference of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World held in the city earlier that day.

He was accompanied by State Councilor Liu Yandong and Zhang Gaoli, secretary of the Tianjin Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).