President Xi Jinping has emphasized the importance of taking into account the battlefield, the troops and the future in order to build world-class military medical universities, as the nation elevates the people's armed forces to world-class standards.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remark on Tuesday during an inspection at Army Medical University in Southwest China's Chongqing.

Noting that the strategy of strengthening the military by training competent personnel in the new era should be comprehensively implemented, he urged military medical universities to improve their ability to provide education, cultivate talent and ensure medical support.

When meeting with representatives of officers and soldiers at the university, Xi said that Army Medical University, as an important part of the entire military's medical support forces, should foster virtue, develop combat capabilities, deepen reforms and cultivate Army medical workers with both integrity and professional competence in the new era.

He urged efforts to vigorously promote innovation in military medical research and consolidate traditional strengths to gain an edge on the scientific frontier.

Military medical support should be strengthened to help enhance the combat effectiveness of the troops, and to guarantee the physical and mental health of the officers and soldiers, Xi said.

He also underscored the need to exercise full and rigorous Party self-governance and carry out Party discipline education.

Work should be done to advance law-based governance and tighten education management, he said, calling for concerted efforts to open up new horizons for university development.

As a reorganized institution established in 2017, Army Medical University has accomplished a series of major tasks including providing medical support for military situations and in COVID-19 prevention and control.

On the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year in January 2020, a group of 150 medical workers from Army Medical University left for Wuhan, Hubei province, to provide medical aid. It was among the first medical groups to arrive in the provincial capital.