Vice Premier Sun Chunlan urged revitalizing higher education in China’s central and western regions to better serve the economic and social development of the country and the region.

Sun, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection trip to Shaanxi province from Oct 21 to 22.

Sun visited several schools, including Xidian University and Xi'an Jiaotong University, and praised the hard-working spirit of their teachers and students.

“You have made positive contributions to the nation’s and the region’s economical and social development by making full use of your talents,” Sun added.

She also said colleges and universities, with the quality of talent as a priority, must try to build a system to promote all-around development of moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetics and labor education, and cultivate a new generation to take on national rejuvenation.

She said they should also improve science and technology innovation and carry out collaborative innovation with research institutes and enterprises, striving to achieve major breakthroughs in key core technologies.

She said the Shaanxi government should encourage qualified universities to accelerate the development of first-class universities and first-class disciplines.

She also said colleges and universities can make bold reforms in cultivating talent, optimizing the structure of specialties and the college entrance system, in order to better serve economic and social development.

The reform of vocational education should also be further promoted, Sun said.