Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan has called for improvement in compulsory education, basic healthcare services in severely impoverished regions in Yunnan province to make contributions to winning the battle against poverty and the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

Sun, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during her research tour on Dec 23-25 in Yunnan in southwestern China.

Sun stressed the implementation of the special campaign which prevents students from quitting schools and ensures admission enrollment in compulsory education.

She called for improving the building of small-scale schools and boarding schools in rural areas, developing vocational education in poverty-stricken regions, guaranteeing payment to teachers of compulsory education, and filling vacancies of teachers in poverty-stricken areas through special programs and government-funded normal university students.

Sun highlighted the importance of one-to-one assistance between urban and rural hospitals, as well as of encouraging medical college graduates to work in the rural and remote areas, as well as in central and western China.

She also called for fully implementing the Healthy China Action, and better controlling contagious, endemic and chronic diseases to prevent illness-led poverty.