A major new training program for cadres will be launched after the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to improve the quality of party cadres, said a senior CPC official.

Zeng Qinghong, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks during a visit to the Jinggangshan Cadres' Institute located at a former revolutionary base in east China's Jiangxi Province.

The Party's 17th National Congress will be held in Beijing in the second half this year.

It is the third time, Zeng, also vice president of China, has visited the Jinggangshan Cadres' Institute.

He also visited two other cadre training institutes in Shanghai's Pudong and Yan'an in northwest Shaanxi Province.

China built the three high-profile cadre training institutes after the Party's 16th National Congress to improve the quality and skills of leading cadres and conduct international training exchanges.

Pudong is the most developed area in China. The Pudong-based institute runs courses on international affairs, and helps trainees keep pace with the times and become more open. The other two institutes gives officials the opportunity to learn more about revolutionary traditions and about conditions in the country.

So far, nearly 8,000 top and middle level CPC cadres have been trained at the Jinggangshan Cadres' Institute.

Zeng urged the institute to ensure that training courses draw from real life but also from revolutionary traditions.

He also called on the teachers and trainees in the institute to learn from Fang Yonggang, a professor of politics from Dalian Naval Academy. He said that Fang, who is fighting a terminal illness, has had an illustrious career in education and has contributed greatly to spreading the Party's new theories.

Zeng took a particular interest in infrastructure in the places he visited. In Shanghai, he praised workers for their efficiency and skill in building Donghai Bridge and Yangshan Deep-water Harbour. In Jiangxi, he applauded the public benefit of a newly-built railway station.

Zeng also urged local governments to pursue the scientific concept of development to boost society and the economy.