BEIJING — Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan on Sept 10 stressed carrying forward the tradition of respecting teachers and supporting education, and cultivating high-caliber teachers.

Sept 10 marks China's 37th Teachers' Day. Sun, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with representatives of outstanding teachers, conveying congratulations and greetings from the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to teachers and educators across the country.

Calling on teachers to nurture all-around socialist builders and successors, Sun urged them to foster a scientific philosophy on education, innovate teaching methods, and actively support and participate in education reform, thus promoting the high-quality development of education.

Sun urged Party committees and governments at all levels to improve the long-term mechanism for guaranteeing salaries and benefits of compulsory-education teachers, continue to implement the living allowance policy for rural teachers, and strengthen targeted training of teachers in less-developed areas.

Sun also called for efforts to create an atmosphere of respecting teachers and supporting education, and to constantly enhance teachers' sense of gain and honor.