BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping on Wednesday replied to a letter from students participating in a program at the Beijing Normal University aimed at training teachers for service in underdeveloped areas in central and western regions, while also extending greetings to teachers across the country ahead of China's Teachers' Day.

In the letter, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, encouraged these students to serve in places where the country and the people need them most, after graduation.