BEIJING -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has encouraged 20 newly-enrolled cadets from a school in East China's Anhui province to strive to become high-quality, professional military personnel.

Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in a letter replying to 20 students of the Anhui Province Qianshan Yezhai Middle School, who have been accepted into military academies.

In the letter, Xi congratulated the students on their admissions to military academies and expressed the expectation that they can contribute to the modernization of national defense and the armed forces.

The school is located in the old revolutionary base areas in the Dabie Mountains. More than 100 graduates from this school applied to military academies this year, and a total of 20 of them were admitted to nine academies.