Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for efforts to promote development in the fields of education, culture, health and sports so as to enhance the people's sense of fulfillment, happiness and security.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks at a symposium with experts and representatives from the sectors.

Xi chaired the symposium to solicit opinions on economic and social development in the 14th Five-Year Plan (FYP) period (2021-2025). China's FYP system is formulated to make plans for economic and social development over the coming five years.

2020 is the last year of the 13th FYP. Now China is drafting its 14th plan. The country started soliciting public opinions on compiling the 14th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development earlier this month.

Priority to education

The Chinese president underscored the importance of education in China's development and urged to give priority to developing education.

Xi called for further reforming education, speeding up modernization, developing education that people are satisfied with during the 14th FYP period.

"We should optimize the education structure, academic disciplines structure, and talent training structure that are compatible with the new development pattern and pursue lifelong learning," he added.

President Xi called on colleges and universities to be brave to take on heavy responsibilities, focus on the nation's strategic needs, aim at key core technologies, and speed up technological research.

Strengthen cultural confidence

"We should strengthen cultural confidence and promote innovative transformation and development of traditional Chinese culture," Xi said.

He stressed that the Chinese nation will not be able to rejuvenate itself without a rich and prosperous culture.

He also called for enhancing the guiding role of patriotism, collectivism, and socialism.

Disease prevention first

China must unswervingly put prevention in the first place and integrate prevention with treatment and strengthen society-wide efforts to prevent and control diseases, Xi said during the symposium.

He noted that health is the foundation of social progress, a hallmark of national prosperity and the common pursuit of the broad masses.

It is necessary to set up a mechanism to ensure steady input in public health and intensify the reform of disease prevention and control system, Xi added.

"We should ensure that public medical and health care services serve the public good and speed up the expansion of high-quality medical resources and balanced regional distribution so that people can enjoy fair, accessible, systematic and continuous health services," he said.

Break new ground in health industry

Noting sports is an important way to improve people's health and a key way to satisfy people's yearning for a better life and promote the all-round development of human beings, Xi called for breaking new ground in sports industry's development through deepening reform and innovation.

The Chinese president also urged to accelerate the development of its sports industry and focus efforts on quality development.

We should adhere to the education concept of health first, strengthen school physical education, and promote the coordinated development of cultural learning and physical exercise.

It is necessary to innovate the training, selection, incentive and guarantee mechanism of competitive sports talents and the management system of the national team, he added.

Xi also voiced zero tolerance to doping and called on relevant parties to be ready for a high quality 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing.