SHANGHAI - Premier Li Keqiang on Friday called for greater courage and wisdom in pushing forward economic transformation and upgrading to achieve more sustainable growth in the long term.

Li made the remarks at an economic work conference in Shanghai following a research tour to the Yangtze River Delta region.

Li said his tour found the economic climate in the Yangtze River Delta region to be generally stable, but given complicated internal and external environments, potential risks remain despite positive factors.

While maintaining steady economic growth, China should look to long-term interests to intensify efforts to foster an "upgraded version" of the economy, Li noted after listening to reports from government officials in Shanghai, and provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui.

"If we do not take the initiative to upgrade, steady growth will be hard to achieve and harder to sustain," Li said.