Greater priority should be given to science, technology and education in implementing the strategy of developing China's west in a big way, and special policies should be adopted to boost the education sector there, said Vice- Premier Li Lanqing.

Li voiced his view when he joined in group discussions attended respectively by Qinghai and Chongqing deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC), in session here since Sunday.

The strategy, which has been made by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council, has won nationwide support, said Li, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau.

Special policies should be adopted to foster, retain and attract talented people from the rest of China and abroad, and their abilities should be brought into full play, the vice premier said. Greater efforts should be made to popularize nine-year compulsory schooling and wipe out illiteracy among young and middle-aged people in the western areas, Li noted.

He proposed that eastern areas launch a nationwide campaign to provide educational aid to their western counterparts on a one-to- one basis. Schools in eastern provinces and cities should pick their partner schools in the west and help them with teachers, equipment, textbooks, stationery and garments.