We introduce a factorized difference operator L(u) annihilated by the Frenkel-Reshetikhin screening operator for the quantum affine algebra U_q(C^{(1)}_n). We identify the coefficients of L(u) with the fundamental q-characters, and establish a number of formulas for their higher analogues. They include Jacobi-Trudi and Weyl type formulas, canceling tableau sums, Casorati determinant solution to the T-system, and so forth. Analogous operators for the orthogonal series U_q(B^{(1)}_n) and U_q(D^{(1)}_n) are also presented.
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