The top leadership asked colleges on Friday to enroll more students from central, western and rural parts of the country as part of education reform.

Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences, said Friday's meeting showed that leaning toward underdeveloped regions has become a priority and principle.

But he called for more reforms to reduce the administrative power in enrollment to allow universities to have a bigger say.

Zhao Xinying and Xinhua