Accelerated Personnel Training Vital to Western Development

The key to success in the large-scale development of the western region lies in policies, leadership, and solid work, but, in the final analysis, in reliance on talents. It is necessary to introduce and keep talents, and place them at proper posts, but in the end, they should be given training.

The western region is a remarkable place producing outstanding people and possessing abundant intellectual resources. In the endeavor to support construction in border areas over the past decades since the founding of New China in 1949, large numbers of ambitious, earnest and selfless dedicated, high-quality personnel have been sent to the region. Having been tested in the harsh environment and tempered in the 20-odd years of reform and opening practice, these personnel have become an important force in the construction of the western region. Like the native born and bred people in the western region, they are part of the most valuable wealth of the region.

Western development is a mammoth as well as a tough battle. It needs large numbers of high-quality talents who have modern insight and modern knowledge in various fields. This requires that we, on the one hand, continue to select large groups of personnel from various localities and send them to the western region and, on the other hand, we should effectively grasp the work of training and raising the standards of existing personnel of the western region, so that they can advance to a new stage and reach a new standard in their ideological concept and in the structure of knowledge. .The large-scale development of west China has erected a stage for them to give further play to their talent and engage in advanced study.

It must be noted that whether in terms of speeding up construction of infrastructures and strengthening the protection of ecological environment, or properly readjusting the industrial structure, there is an urgent need for large numbers of personnel with a fairly high quality and familiarity with the local environment. The urgent requirement of "use" has provided a new driving force for "study". In this sense, personnel in today's west China are faced with an excellent opportunity for receiving the "second training". This requires that they seize the opportunity, immediately adapt themselves to the new situation, absorb new knowledge and quicken their steps to improve themselves; it also requires that the decision-making departments make an overall plan for the concrete development and the training and employment of personnel, only when tangible material capital is combined with intangible knowledge capital, is it possible to truly call forth enormous energy for development and construction and bring the western region onto the path of rapid and sound development.

Western development requires introduction of new talents. Bringing in "permanent-brand" personnel is very important, while developing talents of a "migratory bird" type is also a good strategy. Today when science and technology are experiencing rapid development, it is entirely possible to build up a mobile and efficient talent base by making full use of modern means of transportation and communications and network technology and to set up an "open, mobile, united and advanced" mechanism and introduce personnel from developed areas to the western region, so as to bring about nationwide and even worldwide common share of resources.

With respect to the new personnel introduced into the western region, there is also the question of training them and helping them adapt to the new situation. They should have an experience of the objective environment of the western region, get to know its actual condition, foster a profound feeling for the region, thereby inspiring the spirit of selfless devotion to the western region, and thus making solid contributions to the development of west China.

Training and bringing up a large batch of talents is presently an urgent task for success in western development. We must truly establish the ideology of "taking 10 years to grow trees and 100 years to rear people", from now on, we should strive to run compulsory education, vocational education and higher education well in western regions, train personnel at the juncture of the ideas of eastern and western regions and in the practice of economic development. It is necessary to activate local personnel, place outside personnel at proper posts and train backbone force for tomorrow. We firmly believe that so long as talented people come out in succession, there will be high hope for the western region.



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