A senior Chinese official has urged college graduates working as village officials to improve their work so as to provide better services for rural residents and contribute to the development of China's vast countryside.

Li Yuanchao, head of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks during a discussion with college graduates serving as village officials in east China's Jiangsu Province Wednesday.

Li, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, asked the officials to "aim high" but adopt a "down-to-earth attitude" towards their work.

China has encouraged college graduates to work at the grassroots in rural areas in a bid to develop the less-developed countryside.

So far, about 200,000 college graduates have taken posts as village officials in China, according to the figures released by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.