Letter to art professors calls aesthetic training 'necessary' in shaping minds

President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of aesthetic education on Thursday, calling for solid efforts to help the nation's young people develop in a fully rounded and healthy way.

Xi made the remarks in a reply to a letter from eight senior professors from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. He extended his sincere greetings to the professors, including 99-year-old Zhou Lingzhao, praising their efforts in art education and their contributions to fostering talent and creating pleasing works.

Xi said that aesthetic education is of great importance, as it plays a significant role in shaping a beautiful mind.

In their letter, the professors proposed that the country should strengthen aesthetic education and expressed their firm resolve in promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Xi said it's "very necessary" to make more efforts in the country's aesthetic education.

Higher moral standards must be upheld to pursue a better aesthetic education, Xi said, calling on educators to stay rooted in the life of the new era, abide by the laws of aesthetics and carry forward the Chinese spirit of aesthetic education.

This year marks 100 years since the birth of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

Xi said he hoped the academy would maintain the right direction of education, implement the educational guidelines adopted by the country, educate students with great care and deliver masterpieces of art to the world.

"Solid efforts should be made to build the academy into a cradle of the socialist builders and successors," Xi said in the letter.

The Central Academy of Fine Arts dates to the founding of the National School of Fine Arts in Beijing in 1918, advocated by educator Cai Yuanpei. It was the first national school of fine arts in China, and marked the beginning of modern Chinese education in the fine arts.