Abstract: There is a large population of 800 million in rural areas, which is near 30% in western China. The status quo of large quantity and low quality of rural manpower has been the big barrier of the development of rural economy. Human resources of the western countryside should be developed by means of putting emphasis on vocational education; boosting the combination of agriculture, technology and education; establishing social security system and taking effective motivational measures. Government should play key role in rural human resources development. Therefore, rural human resources development is of practical and long-term importance to realize the sustainable development in western China.