Chinese President Hu Jintao speaks at a national conference on human resources development in Beijing, Dec. 19, 2003. The conference was held in Beijing on Friday and Saturday. (Xinhua photo)

    BEIJING, Dec. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao has called for greater efforts for speeding up the development and training of qualified personnel for the country's modernization drive.

    A good job must be done in training, attracting and using well more qualified personnel, so as to bring their ability into full play for the service of the Chinese nation, said Hu, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, at a national conference on qualified personnel held here from Friday to Saturday.

    The two day meeting, held at the joint sponsorship of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, was the first of its kind ever 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 talent resources," Hu said.

    Premier Wen Jiabao and other senior Party and government officials attended the conference. Enditem