BEIJING, May 3 -- President Xi Jinping Saturday encouraged young people to build up establishment at grassroots level and contribute to building a greater nation ahead of China's Youth Day which falls on Sunday.

Xi made the remarks in a letter to 15 volunteer teachers who graduated from Hebei's Baoding University in 2000 and have been working at a secondary school in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region since then.

"You've been educating students in the western border areas for more than a decade and your great passion is touching," said Xi.

Xi praised those who have volunteered to support education in China's western regions for their dedication to economic and social development and ethnic unity.

It is the right way for the youth to serve the people and contribute to the country, said Xi, expressing hope that more Chinese young people will work at grassroots level to realize their dreams.