BEIJING - An on-campus training program targeting 4,200 senior Chinese officials was launched Saturday in Beijing.

The newly enrolled officials, ranked at the division-director level within central government ministries or other Beijing-based public institutions, are required to go to universities on the weekends and complete their courses, according to a report from the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

A pilot project for the program was launched in 2010, expanded in 2011, and upgraded to a routine training program for senior Chinese cadres after the issuance of a high-profile CPC directive in January.

The program's 2012 syllabus includes four compulsory courses, 58 optional seminars and 60 optional lectures covering nearly 600 subjects, including socialism, macroeconomics, social management, and cultural and communication studies.

The report also noted that the courses would be given by leading scholars at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, the Chinese Academy of Governance, the National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army and four prominent public universities, including Tsinghua University and Peking University.

On the 90th founding anniversary of the CPC in July 2011, President Hu Jintao, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, called upon all Party members and cadres to take learning as an intellectual pursuit, genuinely cultivate virtues, increase knowledge and enhance competence through learning.

The program was designed to inspire officials and help them build up their capabilities in handling practical problems, said the report, quoting a senior official with the Organization Department.