Xi urges cultivation of high-caliber talent in letter replying to university professors

BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping has stressed the importance of nurturing more high-caliber talent committed to the country's development.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks Thursday in a letter replying to veteran professors of the University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB).

The president also expressed hope for advancing the innovative and green development of the country's iron and steel industry.

In the letter, Xi extended congratulations to faculty, students and alumni of the university as it marks its 70th anniversary.

Noting the great need for a class of talented people with both ethical integrity and professional competence, Xi called on the university's faculty to carry forward the spirit of rigorous scholarship and devotion to nurture more high-caliber talent who have strong ideals, professional skills and iron wills and follow the leadership of the Party. He further encouraged them to make greater contributions in the efforts to build the country into a leader in science, technology and manufacturing.

Xi's letter was written in reply to prior correspondence from 15 senior professors of the university. In their letter, the professors reported the university's development and expressed their resolve to foster more talent for the high-quality development of the country's steel and iron industry.

First founded in 1952, the USTB, then known as the Beijing Institute of Iron and Steel Technology, was New China's first college of iron and steel industry.