President has praise for intellectuals

Xi urges them to boost efforts to help in building of moderately well-off society

China's intellectuals must play a bigger role in contributing to the nation's development, President Xi Jinping said on Saturday when he joined a panel discussion with political advisers from three Chinese non-Communist parties.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, spoke highly of the efforts and contributions intellectuals made in the country's revolution and its reform in past decades. The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation needs more intellectuals and their knowledge, he said.