Chinese President Hu Jintao said the nation's revitalization strategy based on human resources development should be taken as a major and pressing task of the State and the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Hu, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, made the appeal at a national conference on human resources development, which was held in Beijing on Friday and Saturday.

He said the human resources development strategy is vital for upgrading China's competitiveness and improving comprehensive national strength, and for the ambitious plan of building a well-off society in China.

Other Chinese leaders attending the conference were Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Zeng Qinghong, Huang Ju, Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun and Luo Gan.

Hu said China will make greater efforts to speed up the training of qualified personnel for the country's modernization drive.

The conference, sponsored by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, was the first of its kind since the founding of New China in 1949.

"Human resources are the first primary resources in China, and the country should be turned from a populous nation into a big nation with abundant talented human resources," the president said.

China will improve the development of human resources and make better use of its talented people, Hu stressed.

He said China will give priority to raising educational, vocational and creative standards, and improving the ethic, scientific and cultural levels and health of the people.

It is essential to increase investment in projects to boost human resources development, and redouble training programs so as to ensure the number of talented people meets the demand of national development, he said.

Market-oriented reform must be continued in allocating talented people, and the country will make good use of the human resources at home and abroad, Hu Jintao said.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said at the conference that China's modernization drive requires many talented personnel to lead the Party, the country and the armed services.

Describing the first two decades of this century as an important strategic period for China's development, Wen said the key to fast development is the training and use of human resources.

(Xinhua News Agency December 21, 2003)