A senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has called for the development and use of talented professionals in the political, economic and technological fields in order to lay a solid foundation for developing a society in which people will enjoy a fairly comfortable life.

He Guoqiang, a member of the Political Bureau and of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection tour from May 26 to June 2 in northwest China's Gansu Province and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

He urged Party committees and governments at all levels to seriously study and implement the principles referring to professional talents which were adopted at the May 23 meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

The meeting discussed ways to better train and utilize talented professionals.

The issue of talent is a crucial one, as it relates closely to the activities of the Party and the state, he stressed.

Though China has the largest population in the world, it is facing serious challenges in fostering skilled professionals in the face of intense competition worldwide, he pointed out.

He highlighted efforts in training and in introducing and utilizing talents in the drive to raise the Party's work to a new level and to advance in the country's modernization, reform and opening-up.

He also emphasized the development of domestic and overseas talent markets to further the country's social and economic development.