BEIJING, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the University of National Defense of the Chinese People's Liberation Army on Friday as the military school marked its 80th anniversary.

Hu, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, met with some retired and incumbent senior teachers and leaders of the school. He also paid a visit to an exhibition hall displaying the school's history.

Training a large group of military talents is fundamental and vital for building, ruling and strengthening our armed forces, Hu said.

The president urged the top military university to study the essence of the 17th CPC National Congress, display tradition and promote the "sound and rapid" development of military academies.

He asked the university to reform and innovate, so as to improve teaching and military personnel training quality.

Vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission (CMC) Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, and other CMC members were present at the ceremony.

Guo urged the university to keep pace with the times and try to become a world-class military university.

In October of 1927, late Chairman Mao Zedong led an uprising army to arrive at the Mount Jinggang area, in east China's Jiangxi Province, to lay the foundation for the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, the predecessor of the PLA. One month later, Mao set up the Army's first training brigade, which was regarded as the beginning of the defense university.

Through 80 years of development, the training brigade of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army set up in 1927 has now become the prestigious University of National Defense, the country's and the army's most important military education base.

So far, the PLAUND has produced 231 doctorate holders and 1,581 masters, and over 500 of them have become regiment and division leaders in the Army.

2007 also marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the PLA.

Source: Xinhua