SHENYANG, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Vice Premier Sun Chunlan has stressed the importance of tapping into the strength of education to serve the revitalization of northeast China during a recent inspection to the region.

The remarks were given when Sun made a research tour to Liaoning from Thursday to Saturday. She said it was important to boost the capability of serving economic and social development via education and lay a solid foundation for the revitalization of the northeast through modernizing the sector.

During her stay in Liaoning, Sun visited primary and middle schools, vocational and technical schools, as well as key labs and research and development institutions at universities, to get first-hand information about aspects, including training of personnel with technical skills, application of scientific and technological achievements.

She also presided over a symposium to discuss how to serve the revitalization of northeast China via education.

While urging government departments to spend more resources in education, Sun said education, closely linked to the development of science and technology as well as the supply of high-level work force, is vital for revitalizing the old industrial bases.

She also asked local governments to prioritize education and address the difficulties concerning application of advances in science and technology and construction of normal universities.

Enterprises should be encouraged to finance vocational education and great efforts should be made to train personnel with specific skills for service sectors, such as tourism, healthcare, and elderly care, she said.