BEIJING - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Friday that the government should improve the welfare system in the country's less developed western regions.

In a conference with Vice Premier Li Keqiang and National Development and Reform Commission officials about the "Western Development" drive in 2010, he said education should be the priority of social development in west China.

The government should at the same time attract more human resources from coastal areas to the west, he said.

It was agreed the pension and medical insurance systems would be extended to cover more people.

The government should support the animal husbandry, tourism and mining industries, which were pillar sectors of west China economies, and encourage college graduates and farmers to start their own businesses.