Premier Li Keqiang shakes hands with Li Youbin (left), a Chinese actor who has performed leading roles in many popular TV series in China. Feng Yongbin/China Daily

The central government must provide more policy support in promoting cultural and educational development, as these are also crucial elements for China to realize its comprehensive sustainable development, Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday.

Li made the comment at a symposium held to solicit opinions on the drafts of the Government Work Report and the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020). It was attended by leaders from the State Council, the teams writing the drafts and seven representatives from fields in the arts, education, science, health, sports and grassroots enterprises.

It was the last of three such symposiums Li presided over. The previous two, both on Monday, were attended respectively by leaders of non-Communist parties and economists.

"The ultimate driving force for national development comes from people, and the government needs to make better efforts in creating an equal environment for competition to stimulate people's creativity," Li said.

Animated discussions often arose in the two-hour symposium, and Li frequently raised questions in the discussion.

Meng Qingguo, party secretary of the Tianjin University of Technology and Education, said at the symposium that nurturing high-quality technical talent is crucial to achieving a high-quality manufacturing industry.

"The problem we face now is a lack of good vocational teaching resources, especially in the remote and poverty-stricken areas in west China," he said. "Also, it is hard to find experienced workers in particular industries who can be trained as vocational teachers because we don't know where to look for them."

Meng suggested the problems might be addressed by building a database of outstanding technically talented individuals and putting more efforts into the vocational education.

Zeng Yixin, head of Beijing Hospital, underscored the importance of medical insurance in the country's medical reform. Li spoke highly of his suggestions and added that the government will give more financial support for people's medical insurance, particularly the serious illness medical insurance.

Mo Yan, a 2012 Nobel Prize-winning Chinese author, focused his suggestions on primary education in China, adding that the present school system requires at least 12 years in school before a student can go on to higher education. He also suggested that primary school students in China receive more popular science education.